The South Korean movie, “The Best Moment of Our Lives,” will be released in South Korean theaters soon and a promotional preview is now available for viewing online. The movie revolves around the 2004 South Korean Olympic Team which lost to Denmark in the Gold medal final in Athens. The match was notable for going through 2 overtimes before being settled in a penalty shoot-out. The preview mixes scenes from the Gold medal match with training and preparation for the Olympics. The movie according to online user groups, the film will show the sacrifices that married veteran players in their 30’s made as well as conflicts they had with their new coach and the European methods he introduced.

Preview: http://www.veoh.com/videos/v1437437MYtc95T7

This past weekend saw several Women’s National Teams playing in friendly tournaments in Europe and Africa. Here’s a round-up of the results and links to write ups that appeared at the Handball-World Website

[b]GC World Cup in Aarhus, Denmark[/b]: http://www.gfworldcup.dk/Kampe.aspx
Statistics:http://www.gfworldcup.dk/Statistik.aspx

Final Rank
1) Russia
2) France
3) Norway
4) Denmark
5-8) Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, Brazil

Match Day 3 Report: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4243
Match Day 2 Report: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4230
Match Day 1 Report: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4223

[b]Holland Tourney in Rotterdam[/b]: http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4260

1) Germany
2) Japan
3) Poland
4) Netherlands
5) Spain
6) Iceland

[b]Pannon Cup in Hungary[/b]
1) Hungary
2) China
3) Austria
4) Lithuania

[b]Tunisia Tournament:[/b] http://www.handball-world.com/o.red.c/news.php?GID=2&auswahl=4254

1) Angola
2) Tunisia
3) Portugal
4) Tunisia- Olympia Selection

In war torn Iraq they still find time to play Handball. In this article, Canadian reporter, Marty Gervais of the Windsor Star reports from the Iraqi Handball Championship final between Suleimaniya and Baghdad.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=44f981c2-2352-4fb6-b455-66f662592b06&k=61167

According to this news report http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779/6228968.html Cuban Handball Player Rafael Dacosta Capote will play Handball for the Brazilian Club Imes after all. Previous news reports had indicated that Imes already had two foreign players (the Brazilian league maximum) and had declined his services. Apparently, the coach has had a change of heart and has decided to help the Cuban stay in Brazil.

Earlier THN article: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.351

Yi Jianlian, the 6th pick in the NBA draft has been making news for his reluctance to play for the team that drafted him, the Milwaukee Bucks. Buried in this article http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/births/2007/jul/13/566644764.html in the Las Vegas Sun, however, it’s mentioned that both of his parents played Handball full time in China. Unfortunately, according to the article they were forcibly required to play by the state.

Commentary: One would think that playing Handball for a living in China might not be a bad compared to some other jobs there. Of course, the article doesn’t mention the specifics of what happened. Perhaps they were forced to leave their families at a relatively young age.

A Korean movie with Handball as it’s main focus is currently in production. The film titled, “The Best Moment of Our Lives,” will depict the trials and tribulations of South Korea’s Women’s Handball as they prepare for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. According to sources the film will show the sacrifices that married veteran players in their 30’s made as well as conflicts they had with their new coach and the European methods he introduced. For the record the South Korean Women lost to Denmark in the Gold Medal game in a penalty shootout after double overtime.

This Korean effort is arguably the first feature film with Team Handball as the focus of the movie. “No F’ing Handball,” a movie about the faux Sri Lankan Handball Team that disappeared in Germany, also will feature Handball, but it appears to be secondary to the film’s message on immigration.

Korean Forum with Pictures: http://joonsfamily.com/index.php?s=56ac463eef1fc6c0394af7a455134ea2&showtopic=17805&pid=54328&st=0&#entry54328

Article from Korean Film Observatory (pg 35): http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/common/modules/Download.jsp?filePath=/eng/publication&fileName=KFOno21.pdf

Earlier Team Handball News article on film about the Sri Lankan Handball Team:
https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.287

USA : PAR 23:23 FINAL PAR and BRA qualify from group B

Brasil demolishes US by 29 goals. Canada falls short to Paraguay.

[color=#ff0000]A Uruguay – Mexico 24 – 24
A Rep.Dominicana – Argentina 24 – 28 [/color]

[color=#0000ff]B Canada – Paraguay 18 – 23
B Brasil – USA 40 – 11 [/color]

[color=#ff0000]Group A
ARG 2 0 0 4 Pts 48:36 +12
DOR 1 1 0 2 Pts 49:52 – 3
URU 0 1 1 1 Pts 48:49 -1
MEX 0 1 1 1 Pts 36:44 -8[/color]

[color=#0000ff]Group B

BRA 2 0 0 4 Pts 87:23 +64
[b][u]CAN 1 0 1 2 Pts 49:52 -3[/u][/b]
PAR 1 0 1 2 Pts 35:65 -30
[u][b]USA 0 0 2 0 Pts 40:71 -31[/b][/u][/color]

Add the Hamburg Sea Devils American Football team to the growing list of Handball converts. Below is a short comment from player Teyo Johnson’s blog:

“That Wednesday night after we prepared for our home opener against Cologne, most of the team went to a team handball match. Not knowing what to expect, I think we were all pleasantly surprised to see a pretty cool sport and eleven thousand screaming fans.”

I would guess that Teyo and his teammates were probably expecting the more well known American Handball where a couple of guys slap a ball off a wall with their hands.

If the German Bundesliga wanted an example of how to introduce a new sport in another country they certainly don’t have to look very far. The NFL Europe has evolved considerably from when it was first started in 1991 and is now principally a German league with 5 of the 6 franchises located there. This aggressive marketing program is probably still a net loss for the NFL, but I’m sure they are still optimistic about the potential long term return on investment

Teyo Johnson’s blog: http://www.denverbroncos.com/page.php?id=334&storyID=6725
Hamburg Sea Devils Official Site: http://www.hamburg-seadevils.de/
Wikipedia article on NFL Europe: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nfl_europe

USA National Team Goalie, Matt Van Houten, demonstrated his prognostic skills yet again, correctly picking the winner of both matches as well as the winners of the Karabatic/Lijewski and Christiansen/Kavticnik goals scored matchups. In addition, he picked up 6 bonus points by correctly predicting the margin of victory in game two, as well as the margin of victory for the Christiansen/Kavticnik matchup. For his efforts Matt wins the Kempa Handball Jersey. Fred Wallace of Glasgow, Scotland placed 2nd overall and 2nd in the final round and wins the Official 2007 World Championships Handball Program. Thanks to all who participated and [b]thanks to the International Sports and Academic Exchance (ISAE) [/b] https://teamhandballnews.com/page12.html for sponsoring the contest.

Final Standings
1) Matt Van Houten, 71 points
2) Fred Wallace, 64
3) Volker Grizmek, 54
4) David Bordeaux, 44

The Finals for the EHF Champions League will be an all German derby between Flensburg and Kiel. Only 90 Km separate these two traditional Bundesliga powers and these two teams know each other well. Last year they met in the quarterfinals with the unusual outcome of both teams winning on the road. Flensburg beat Kiel 32-28 in the first match while Kiel won 34-32. Earlier this season Kiel beat Flensburg 36-34 at home and this past Saturday, Kiel beat Flensburg 34-33 on a neutral court in the Semifinals of the HAPSA Cup. Based on these results it looks like we should have another compelling final.

Game Schedule
Sunday, 22 April 1730 (Central European Time)
Kiel at Flensburg

Sunday, 29 April 1730 (Central European Time)
Flensburg at Kiel

For the Team Handball News contest the Finals will feature [b]2 chances to win[/b]. The ongoing contest for the Kempa Handball jersey will continue, but [b]newcomers will also get an opportunity to win. Most points accumulated in the Finals only will win an official Men’s 2007 World Championship program:[/b]

Current Overall Standings
1) Matt Van Houten, 45 points
2) David Bordeaux, 34
3) Volker Grizmek, 34
4) Fred Wallace, 31

To enter the contest click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=674143696563

Note: Many of the Champions League matches have been available via web streaming at the Eurosport website: http://www.eurosport.com/handball/

The German newspaper "[link=http://welt.de]Die Welt[/link]" reported in its Sunday edition that the [link=http://www.handball-bundesliga.de/]German Handball League HBL[/link] is planning to expand its scope beyond Germany. Emboldened by the tremendous success of the World Championships with more than 20 million viewers for the final alone, the "[i]strongest league in the world[/i]" (slogan) is even considering marketing efforts in the USA:

[blockquote]"For me, team handball is a sport with all the attributes of an American sport. It's a full-contact sport and team handball is fast and full of action – exactly what US-Fans want to watch."

"Introducing the trademark HBL in the US is possible within the next year or two.[/blockquote]"
[link=http://www.welt.de/wams_print/article810252/Handball-Liga_will_in_die_USA.html]Says[/link] HBL general manager Frank Bohmann. Bohmann also suggested to host the All-Star game or the "Final Four" Cup tournament in the US: "We don't use the slogan '[i]the strongest league in the world[/i]' for nothing. We mean it and now is the perfect time to expand world-wide." Bohmann also cites recent lucrative proposals by several sponsors, including TV stations, after the successful WC as the motivation behind the new strategy.

Production has started in Sri Lanka on a feature film about the infamous Sri Lankan National Handball team which disappeared in Germany in 2004. The Sri Lanka team, which was not really a National team and included players who had never played the game before, duped German authorities into granting them visas for a Handball tour in Germany. The “team” reportedly made their way to Italy, where there is a Sri Lankan emigrant community. The film is being directed by Uberto Pasolini, who is best well known for producing the UK film, “The Full Monty.” The film is tentatively entitled, “No F’ing Handball” and is an Italian/German production.

Sri Lankan Newspaper Article on the film: http://www.sundaytimes.lk/070325/TV/023tv.html
BBC Story from 2004: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3658966.stm