 Hungary looking strong on all fronts
The Hungarian women's beach handball team head to Denmark fro the 2013 European Beach Handball Championship with a mixture of young players, some first class players and beach handball veterans.
"In the last four years we have been among the best teams in the World, but we couldn't reach really big results.
“There were only tiny things missing each year, but something always happened. This year we have a very strong group in Randers where 4-6 teams will fight for the first four places and qualification for the quarter-finals,” said János Gróz, coach of the team.
A project began in 2007 to develop 15-20 very talented beach handball players and to join the top teams. It was done without a lot of funding and without any member of the international players in the indoor version of the sport.
"Unfortunately we had some negative surprises this year. Many of our players quit the team, mostly because of their club teams,” added Gróz.
Both senior and youth national teams took part in an international tournament in Budaörs, with two Norway teams and Croatia among the opposition.
János Gróz said carefully their target for the tournament is to finish in the top four and qualify for the World Championship, but first they have to qualify from their difficult group.
The Hungarian junior team has undergone three changes from the team that won the European Championship last year, but the technical management has not changed for the last seven years.
Youthful look to the men
The men's beach handball team are preparing with five weekend training camps for their 6th European Championship. They will participate with a very young and motivated squad.
There are five new players out of their 10 who travel to Denmark. The new boys have never participated at any major tournaments. Two of them, Attila Kun and Patrik Vizes, are also the member of the junior team.
The players were participating in EBT Masters Finals and in Salgótarján with their own club teams.
Hungarian beach handball clubs such as Budaörs Beach Stars, Salgótarjáni Strandépítők, Dabasi Dinamit, Hír-SAT Keszthely, Letenye BHC have a strong base of players which have been supporting the continuous and effective operation of the national team.
"Our team's biggest target is to reach the best four teams in Randers, as it would mean qualification to the World Championship.
“There are 7-8 teams in the men's field who also have a serious chance to do that.
“We already have a silver medal and two bronze medals. So of course we would like to come home with another medal secretly,” admits team coach Ákos Vártok.
The Hungarian men’s team for the 2013 European Beach Handball Championship:
István Jakab (Salgótarjáni Strandépítők) Norbert Vitáris, Balázs Pozsgai, András Nagy, Balázs Babicz (Budaörs Beach Stars) Patrik Vizes, Attila Kun, András John (HÍR-SAT Keszthely) László Kovácsovics, Máté Gábori ( Letenye BHC)
Information about the European Championship
The 2013 European Beach Handball Championship throw off in Randers, Denmark, from 9 to 14 July 2013.
Entry to the event area for spectators is free. There are no tickets necessary.
Defending champions in both the men's and the women's event are the teams from Croatia.
For more information and to keep up to date visit also the event's official website and become a fan of the EHF's beach handball Facebook page.
TEXT: Balogh Ildikó / cor
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