19.02.2013, 10:20
The rising handball stars of 2013, part 5: Kent Robin Tønnesen

The Norwegian talent is confident about his country's prospects in the EHF EURO 2014 qualification

The rising handball stars of 2013, part 5: Kent Robin Tønnesen

Never forget where you are coming from - these words, even though they are not part of a famous handball saying but rather taken from a song of British band 'Take That', hold some truth for Kent Robin Tønnesen.

Although the 21-year-old is Norwegian, he was born in Partille, near Gothenburg in Sweden and very close to where his present club, VELUX EHF Champions League participant IK Sävehof, is located.

However, this was not where his handball career started as Tønnesen did not start playing handball until after he and his family had moved back to Norway.

"I started to play handball when I was six and at the age of 17 I started playing for the Norwegian top club Haslum, where I played until I joined Sävehof before the start of this season," Tønnesen explains.

"Actually, it was a bit of a coincidence that I ended in Sävehof, and it has been pretty peculiar to be back in the area where I was born. But it is also nice, as I still have relatives here, and I feel very fine in the club," he tells eurohandball.com.

His talent and the fact that he is one of the rare left-handed backcourt players have caught the eyes of several top clubs in Europe, but despite being ambitious he feels no hurry to take the next step in his career right now.

"Of course, I am thinking of some of the bigger leagues, but right now I focus on performing well in Sävehof, where I feel that I can still develop, especially through the Champions League matches we are playing at the moment.

"Then we will have to see what the future brings."

With his height of 1,95 metres and his excellent left hand shot he has caused trouble for many a team's defences already – while playing for Haslum as well as with Sävehof and the Norwegian national team.

"My shot is without doubt my biggest asset, and I have always seen myself mainly as a shooter.

"When it comes to other parts of my game, there are still some details I have to work with, and then I have to work on my physical strength in particular," he says.

In the qualification for EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark, Tønnesen and his Norwegian national teammates are on top of Group 3, level with France on four points.

Both teams have confidently defeated Lithuania and Turkey and will meet in two top matches between 3 and 7 April.

"I feel pretty confident that we will qualify. Two teams are qualifying from the group, and as we have already beaten Lithuania and Turkey clearly twice, I do not really expect any problems with that. Now we can look forward to two probably close matches with France in April."

The good thing is that none of the Danish hosting cities are far away - neither from Tønnesen's place of birth in Sweden nor from Norway.

And so the 21-year-old talent says: "It would really be nice to play a European championship in Scandinavia, so close to home.”

TEXT: Peter Bruun / ts