Your independent news and commentary outlet for the Olympic sport of Team Handball
US National Handball Player, Jenny Choi, talks about both her Army and Handball careers in this article from the Santa Clarita Signal, a California based newspaper. The 2005 West Point graduate will likely deploy to Iraq in the near future.
Santa Clarita Signal Article:
http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=49623&format=html
Brazil Women Challenged by Cuba: Brazil defeated Cuba to secure 1st place in Group B, but Brazil did not coast to an easy double digit victory as they had in previous contests. Cuba got 9 goals a piece from backcourt players Arassay Duran and Suleiky Gomez and kept the game respectable for a final score of 32 to 28. Duran was particularly impressive with 7 of 9 shooting from 9 meters. In Group A, Argentina defeated the Dominican Republic 26-15 to take first place. Argentina will therefore take on Cuba in the Semifinals while Brazil will play the Dominican Republic. In the lower half of the pool Canada’s woes continued with a 23-20 loss to Mexico.
Women’s Standings: www.rio2007.org.br/Nav/RES/ENG/HB/results/HB_400000_W_results_summary.html
Men’s Competition Day 2: Argentina stayed undefeated in Group A with an easy 35-16 victory over Uruguay while the Dominican Republic beat Mexico 35-21. Argentina has qualified for the Semi-finals and Uruguay will qualify if they can beat winless Mexico on Wednesday. In Group B both Brazil and Cuba cruised to easy victories over Canada and Chile respectively. They will play each other on Wednesday with the winner likely getting to avoid Argentina in the Semi-Finals.
Men’s Standings:
www.rio2007.org.br/Nav/RES/ENG/HB/results/HB_400000_M_results_summary.html
Defection Update: According to news reports, http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779/6217431.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/83141.html Cuban player Rafael Dacosta took a cab to Sao Paulo's where he hoped to join the club team Imes/Santa Maria/Sao Caetano, where another Cuban, Michel Ovedo, plays. Because the team already has 2 foreign players, the Brazilian League maximum, the club, however is not interested in his services.
Commentary: The two leading scorers for Cuba in their match against Brazil, Arassay Duran and Suleiky Gomez are young, (21 and 22 years old) and tall, (5 Feet 11 inches and 5 ft, 10 in). These two athletes are home grown talents that have not played much outside of Cuba and yet they were able to scorch the nets for 18 goals against Brazilian athletes that are playing important roles on top club teams in Europe. Makes you wonder how good they could be if they were playing in Europe. Makes you also wonder if they might be wondering the same thing. Note to Cuban Delegation: Keep an eye on your players.
Athlete Profile: Duran http://www.rio2007.org.br/WWW/ENG/BIO/ATH/102127.html
Athlete Profile: Gomez http://www.rio2007.org.br/WWW/ENG/BIO/ATH/102070.html
According to news reports, Cuban Men’s Team Handball player, Rafael Dacosta has defected. The 19 year old Right Back has been missing for several days and did not participate in Cuba’s first game against Canada.
Commentary: This isn’t the first time that Cuban Handball athletes have defected at international competition. Last year at the Central American and Caribbean Games 3 Handball players defected. In fact, I speculated that the Cuban team might not participate in the Pan American games due to fears of further defections. It will be interesting to see if there are any more in Rio. Additionally, it’s probably safe to say that Team Cuba will not participate in next year’s Men’s Pan American Championships if it is held in the USA. As USA laws make it very easy for Cubans to defect, they will be reluctant to let athletes step foot on USA soil.
Official Pan Am Athlete profile: www.rio2007.org.br/WWW/ENG/BIO/ATH/102138.html
Associate Press Article: http://www.nbcsports.com/sports/1782682/detail.html
Earlier THN Article on Cuban Defections: https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.122
Women’s Semi-Finalists Confirmed: Brazil overwhelmed Canada 21-3 in the first half Sunday, to coast to a 37-10 victory. They will meet Cuba, who has also qualified for the semifinals on Tuesday to determine Group B supremacy. Argentina and the Dominican Republic have also qualified and will also play each other on Tuesday in Group A
Women’s Standings: www.rio2007.org.br/Nav/RES/ENG/HB/results/HB_400000_W_results_summary.html
Men’s Competition Day 1: Cuba crushed Team Canada’s hopes of advancing with a convincing 33-20 victory. Brazil also took care of Chile by the same score. Argentina demolished Mexico 40-16 and Uruguay edged the Dominican Republic 29-26 to put them in good shape to qualify for the semifinals.
Men’s Standings:
www.rio2007.org.br/Nav/RES/ENG/HB/results/HB_400000_M_results_summary.html
The Pan-American Games Handball competition started yesterday with Women’s Group matches. As expected Brazil, Argentina, and Cuba coasted to easy victories, while the Dominican Republic edged Paraguay 33-30. Those four winners are now the likely semifinalists that will come out of Group Play.
The Men’s Competition will start today. Team Canada will face a stiff test against Cuba and will likely need a victory to move on to the semifinals.
The winner of the Men’s and Women’s competition, respectively, will qualify for the 2008 Olympics. The 2nd place teams will earn a spot in an Olympics qualification tournament next spring.
Official Pan-American Games Website (Homepage): http://www.rio2007.org.br
Official Pan-American Games Website (Handball Page):
http://www.rio2007.org.br/data/pages/8A488A8F12D856280112D877123A6F2D.htm
(Note: More news articles on handball are available in the Spanish and Portuguese language version of the website.)
The EHF and Italian Federation’s have put together a great website for the Men’s and Women’s European Beach Handball Championships. The website includes several articles and matches are being live streamed throughout the day with alternating Italian and English commentary. The tournament continues this weekend and concludes on Sunday with the Women’s Final at 4:00 PM (CET) and the Men’s final at 5:00 PM (CET)
(Note: Central European Time (CET) is 6 hours ahead of the USA East Coast)
Euro 2007 Beach Handball Championships website: http://www.beachhandballeuro2007.it/eng/
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
Last night in Vienna both the Men’s and Women’s draw for the 2007-2008 Champions League took place.
Men’s Groups: http://championsleague.eurohandball.com/index.asp?page=20081021X
Women’s Groups: http://championsleague.eurohandball.com/index.asp?page=20081022X
Here's some initial analysis of the Men's draw:
[b]Changes to the Draw result in First Ever Group of Death[/b]
Champions League Group play has historically offered few surprises and suspense.
As highlighted earlier https://teamhandballnews.com/news-i341-18.html German side Gummersbach’s placement in the 3rd pool increased the possibility of a draw resulting in a group of death. Additionally, on 21 June, the EHF granted wild card entries to 4th place Spanish side Barcelona and 2nd place Danish side Viborg. http://championsleague.eurohandball.com/index.asp?page=20081070X,10390#scroll These entries were granted after Luxembourg and Greece withdrew their Champions League slots. Barcelona and Viborg, however, do not directly qualify for Group Play, and will have to defeat Braga (Portugal) and Istanbul (Turkey) respectively. They will be heavy favorites to move on to group play and more importantly for last night’s draw they were placed in Pot 4. Thus, theoretically a four team group of death, featuring Barcelona, Gummersbach, and two top teams from Pot 1 and 2 could have been drawn. Instead, only one Group of Death (Group F) with Veszprem, Celje, and Gummersbach resulted. (Imagine that group with Barcelona—It could have happened) Each of these 3 teams would normally have expected to advance, but this year one of them will be staying home. The 2nd toughest group is Group E with Chekov, Hamburg, Zaporzhye, and Viborg.
[b]Weakest Groups[/b]
Group A with Ivry, Astrakhan, Karvina and Barcelona is the weakest group. Look for fourth seed Barcelona to win with the other 3 teams fighting it out for the 2nd seed. Group H with Pick Szeged, Gorenje Velenje, Sarajevo, and the winner of Red Star Belgrade/Brest is also lacking firepower.
[b]Can You Go Home Again?[/b]
Kiel and Montpellier are matched up in Group B, setting the stage for a homecoming for former Montpellier players Nikola Karabatic and Thierry Omeyer. Karabatic left on good terms, but Ohmeyer's departure late last Summer left Montpellier with only one top of the line goalie. The crowd reaction at Rene Bougnol should be interesting.
[b]A Loaded Main Round Competition [/b]
The EHF has tinkered with the format and done away with the Round of 16 and Quarterfinal Home and Away knockout matches. Instead the 16 surviving teams from the Group matches will be drawn into 4 groups that will play a full Home and Away round robin. And instead of two teams advancing from these groups, only one team will move on to the semifinals. These 4 groups should be very competitive and with only one team advancing there should be some real nail-biter matches heading into the final weekend of games. Hopefully, the EHF will further tinker with the format to avoid pairing any clubs from the same nation in these groups. That way, Germany and Spain could once in for all settle which league is better.
This article from the San Antonio Express-News highlights some of the politics behind San Antonio’s failed bid to host the 2007 PANAM Games. The article also discusses Rio’s staging of the current games and its desire to use it as a showcase in support of their bid for the 2016 Olympics. Additionally, the leaders of San Antonio’s failed bid for the 2007 games indicate that San Antonio might consider bidding for the 2015 games as long as they don’t have to compete against another US city and the Pan American Sports Organization allows them to run unopposed for final selection by the delegates, similar to Guadalajara’s 2011 selection. https://teamhandballnews.com/news.php?item.103
Commentary: While the Pan Am Games is a minor event for many sports, it is a very important for Team Handball as the Gold Medal winner secures the one guaranteed Pan American slot for the Olympics. A lot can happen in 8 years time and the IHF could try and change the qualification rules again. For those out there that don’t think the US can turn things around its Handball program in four years, hosting this critical tournament in eight could secure USA qualification for 2016. Of course, if Chicago is selected to host then the USA would be in by default.
San Antonio Express-News Article: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/stories/MYSA061907.1D.PanAmGames.folo.39cd438.html
Following the twin disappointments this year of failing to qualify for the Pan Am Games and the 2007 World Championships the USA Women’s National Team is at a crossroads. What happened and what’s next?
I hope to interview the current (Dawn Lewis) and former coach (Christian Latulippe), as well as Mike Cavanaugh, the USOC High Performance Handball Director once I get settled back in the US. In the interim I’ll pose a few questions and possible answers from my perspective.
[b]Did the US Women have a realistic chance to qualify for the Pan Am Games or the World Championships?[/b]
Answer: Yes. Looking at the scores and the write-ups of the matches that were played one can conclude that they had a legitimate shot at qualifying for both tournaments. For the Pan Am Games beating Canada 2 out of 3 was unlikely, but they are a better team than Mexico. They certainly proved that they could beat Mexico in a neutral setting in the Dominican Republic. I can only speculate as to whether the coaching change prior to the 2nd chance tournament in Mexico impacted the outcome of that tournament. In terms of qualifying for the World Championships it has been noted in the comments section of one of our write-ups that the US Women’s team was leading Paraguay by 4 in the 2nd half. If they had held on to that lead they would have qualified.
[b]Did the US Women have a realistic chance to qualify for the 2008 Olympic Games?[/b]
Answer: No. The gap in terms of both raw athletic talent and experience between the US and Brazil was simply too great. And the same can be said for the rest of the PATHF. Nobody is going to beat Brazil in Rio this summer at the Pan Am Games and no team will likely lose by less than double digits. The 2nd place and possibly the 3rd place team will have a chance in an Olympic qualification tournament, but they will likely face the difficult task of having to beat a European team in Europe. It is also extremely unlikely that a PATHF nation, other than Brazil, will place in 7th or higher at the World Championships. Bottom line: Barring some bizarre disqualification, the sole PATHF rep at the Olympics will be Brazil.
[b]What are the chances for the US Women to qualify for the 2012 Olympics?[/b]
Answer: There’s always a chance, but there are simply too many unknowns to accurately predict the likelihood of qualifying. In simple terms a combination of either the US fielding a better team and/or Brazil and other PATHF foes dropping down a bit will be needed.
[b]What are the prospects of Brazil and other PATHF foes fielding weaker teams?[/b]
Answer: It’s possible, but I wouldn’t count on it. The quality of national teams often runs in cycles, but Brazil appears to have developed a national program which is developing quality youth athletes that feed into their national program. Additionally, many of their players will continue to likely gain valuable experience overseas. To a lesser extent other nations like Argentina have followed Brazil’s example, but are more within reach of the US program.
[b]What are the prospects for the US to field a team that can qualify for 2012?[/b]
Answer: Unknown. Four years provides some time to put together a credible program, but the current picture looks bleak. USOC management at the 2006 National Championships Town Hall meeting indicated that following USA Team Handball’s decertification they had actually considered dropping the Women’s program. In the end, they decided to continue to fund the program with limited resources. Now that the program has definitively failed to qualify for the 2008 Olympics continued funding is in question. Also based on recent performance it is highly doubtful that a more competitive program could be created anyway at the current level of funding. Adding even more uncertainty are the USOC plans to turn over control of day to day handball operations to a new organization later this year. Perhaps this new organization will quickly and innovatively develop a competitive national team, but this remains to be seen.
[b]What is the tournament schedule for the Women leading up to the 2012 Olympics?[/b]
Answer: Assuming the calendar follows past precedent, the following tournaments will be staged prior to the 2012 Olympics
2008 Pan American Div 2 Championships (Winter?)
2009 Pan American Championships (May?) (Qualification for Dec 2009 WC)
2009 World Championships (December) China
2010 Pan Am Games Qualification (Winter?)
2011 Pan American Championships (May?) Qualification for Dec 2011 WC)
2011 Pan Am Games (Summer) in Guadalajara, Mexico (Qualification for 2012 Olympics)
2011 World Championships (December) Location TBD
2012 Olympics (August) London
Some question marks in terms of timing, as well as whether there would be a Division 2 tournament for the Pan American Championships. According to the old newsletters of the PATHF the plan was that the bottom 2 teams from the Pan American Championships would have to participate in a Div 2 tournament, in which the top 2 team would qualify for the Pan American Championships. As only 8 teams wanted to participate at the last championships it’s quite possible that there won’t be a Division 2 tournament.
This schedule adds further uncertainty as the next meaningful tournament is likely two years away. In light of this dry spell, one could argue that perhaps this is an opportune time to change management and implement changes to the current program. In terms of Olympic qualification the Pan Am Game in Mexico in 2011 will be the most important test.
[b]What does the US [i][u]need[/u][/i] to do in order to field a better team?[/b]
Answer: The US needs better athletes, more experienced athletes, top level coaching and top level competition on a regular basis.
[b][i][u]How[/u][/i] does the US field a better team?[/b]
Answer: There are a number of different models and strategies that could be employed and several have been tried in the past with varying degrees of success. As answering this question would take awhile, I’ll save an extended discourse on this question for a future post. In short, however, no matter what model and strategy you choose, it will need funding in order to be executed properly.
The reigning Hungarian League Champion and perennial EHF Champions League participant Veszprem will take on Danish 1st Division side Viborg in an exhibition match in London on 25 August. The match is being sponsored by WorldHandball.com www.worldhandball.com and is intended to help broaden the exposure of the sport as they continue their preparation for the London Olympics in 2012. The venue for the match is the Crystal Palace and the England National Team will play against a UK all-star team prior to the main event
This match is likely the highest level club handball match to ever take place in a non-traditional handball nation. The move mimics the efforts of several American sports leagues which have staged games in Europe and Asia as well as European Soccer sides which have gone on tour. Hopefully, this will be just the start of a marketing wave that will see matches take place in other locales around the world.
Veszprem Website: http://www.mkbveszprem.hu/
Viborg Website: http://www.vhk.dk/
Tickets: www.britishhandball.com
With the professional leagues over for the season the European Handball nations are playing (or have played) qualifiers for the 2007 Women’s World Championship in France (December) and the Men’s Euro 2008 Championship in Norway (January).
The Women’s qualifiers are over with the major news being 3 time Olympic Champion Denmark failing to qualify in their 2 game playoff versus Ukraine. Denmark managed only a draw match 30-30 at home and Ukraine beat the Danes 28-24 on the return leg. Denmark is also the home of the top Women’s club league, so there is sure to a lot of hand wringing about how the importing of foreign players into their league has damaged the Women’s program by hindering the development of home grown players. Several other matches were very close on aggregate, with Macedonia edging Belarus by 1 goal and Poland edging Serbia by 2. The 24 Women’s teams that have qualified are now complete and the draw will be later this month in Paris.
http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=57&idart=732
The Men’s qualifiers are only half-way over. Of particular note is Montenegro’s 2 goal away win in Portugal. Assuming they can hold serve at home, this new nation will qualify for their first major tournament.
http://www.eurohandball.com/te_ko.asp?Bewerb=249&Runde=2&Ret=bew
The EHF has revealed the seeding and schedule for next year's Champions League. http://cms.eurohandball.com/PortalData/1/Resources/2_cl/3_download_pdf/MCL.pdf
A few notes:
– Notably next year's tournament will have two rounds of Group Play instead of one. The second round should be a real treat with the top 8 teams playing a double round robin. This will avoid a Ciudad Real – Portland San Antonio quarter final, as happened this year.
– The potential for a legitimate group of death exists with the 4th German side Gummersbach being placed in the 3rd pool. As clubs from the same nation can't meet in the first round of Group Play, however it is not a guarantee and a possible group of death would consist of 1 German, 1 Spanish club and a top club from another nation (Celje and Montpellier are two possibilities)
– The top 2 groups will contain some weaker sides. Notably, Ivry (FR) which surprised Montpellier this season will be a dramatically weaker side with the Abalo moving to Spain and Oskarsson switch to French side Nimes.