Artsem Karalek: “This will be chess: the cleverest will outfox the other”

He joined PGE Vive Kielce in the summer of 2018. But among all the big signings of the club, like Luka Cindrić, Vladimir Cupara or Andreas Wolff next season, his arrival in the town didn’t create as much interest.

In the course of time, however, Artsem Karalek has turned out to be one of Bertus Servaas’ best choices.

It is the Belarusian’s first season in the VELUX EHF Champions League, after four straight years in the EHF Cup with SKA Minsk and Saint-Raphaël Var Handball. His performances on the highest level have not gone unnoticed as he has been nominated for best young player in the competition’s All-star Team.

He always underlines that he doesn’t want to be like any particular player, he wants the others wanting to be like Artsem Karalek. A perfect essence of his character – a blend of confidence, ambition and passion for handball.

This weekend, Karalek and Kielce face powerful Paris Saint-Germain HB in the Match of the Week, the first leg of the VELUX EHF Champions League Quarter-final. The match on Saturday at 18:00 CET will be streamed live on ehfTV.com.

Karalek knows PSG well from playing them in the French league.

“In my head, these are two most important matches. Mental preparation will be crucial for us,” he says.

Strong hug for opponents

From the very beginning of the season Karalek has impressed Kielce with his physical strength. The fans already got used to situations where the Belarusian takes on two opponents with such easy as if he was giving them a hug.

“It only looks easy,” he laughs. “But to do this, you need to work really hard constantly and regenerate. I was not as strong when I was young, I never had a proper weight, but I had predispositions so I was working on my strength.”

But his muscles are only a little part of his assets, as at the same time Karalek is extremely agile, mobile and skilful.

He is great both in attack, where he effectively passes through defenders to make room for teammates, earns penalties, scores goals, and picks up the ball after the opponents’ goalkeeper's interventions.

In defence he plays on the central position, effectively closing the way to the goal of Filip Ivić and Vladimir Cupara.

A real Belarusian machine

He is a real Belarusian machine, as you can hear from some teammates and definitely one of the biggest handball talents aiming to be the world’s best line player one day.

His talent got noticed already in his debut season in the VELUX EHF Champions League, as has been nominated for the All-star Team’s best young player, together with Melvyn Richardson, Ludovic Fabregas, Valter Chrintz and Johannes Golla.

“We all have a good season and we all play important roles in our teams,” Karalek says. “But I think Richardson is even younger than me, he deserves the highlight the most.”

Due to his extreme ambition he is not fully satisfied with his own nomination.

“It’s a great honour for me to be nominated,” he says. “But when I see that I was nominated in the young player category, I would like to get nominated as line player. That would mean more to me. But of course I could have not been nominated at all, so I am very happy anyway.”

Mind will be crucial

But now his personal success walks into a shade as he is focusing on his biggest challenge so far. He knows the story from last season, when Kielce said goodbye to the contest after being dominated by PSG.

With Saint-Raphaël, he played against PSG twice and recalls how his team lost its composure against the domestic champions.

“We lost some balls, did easy mistakes. But you can’t compare league matches to a Champions League contest. It’s a totally different attitude,” says Karalek, adding that PSG have changed since he played against them.

“They have a new coach and new playing style, but the level of skills stayed the same - or even improved,” he says. “They have a star on each position. Looking individually to their achievements, they are better. But we also have great players. Our mental preparation will be crucial.”

"This will be a chess game"

As both coaches, Talant Dujshebaev and Raul Gonzalez, know each other so well, it seems that the duel between Kielce and Paris could become a real chess game.

“We can do everything but we will not become better in such a short time. If we work hard in the gym, we will not be stronger than two weeks ago,” Karalek says. “It’s a matter of tactics. This game will be a meeting of two great coaches, and in fact, this will be chess: the cleverest one will outfox the other.”

Karalek’s role in the quarter-final is an extra important one as Julen Aginagalde has only just joined the team after his ankle injury and will not be able to play much. Karalek is calm about it and ready for his role.

“I need to do my best, even if I have to play 50 minutes. I play like this in my national team. I just need a one-minute break during the game and I can play again and again,” he laughs.

Saturday’s match in the Hala Legionów is only the first half of the tie, Karalek says.

“No matter what the score is in Kielce, I will not be relaxed about the outcome. We know that it will be extremely difficult in both matches. I want to be at the EHF FINAL4 but I can’t think about it, I need to focus on each next step and the first one is on Saturday.”