Young core set to drive Hungary to new heights

Hungary is an interesting prospect at the IKF World Korfball Championship 2019, and should challenge most other teams, even though they are in a tough pool. A young core of the squad has come through the age groups together. Several players who have since graduated to the senior team placed sixth at the IKF U21 World Korfball Championship 2018, following an excellent performance three years earlier when they played for a medal at the U19 Korfball World Cup 2015.

Their challenge is to confirm that potential and go at least one place better than Hungary’s current ninth placing in the IKF rankings. That would give them a top eight finish and therefore ensure qualification for the World Games 2021, an honour that Hungary has never previously achieved.

Alexandra Falcsik, known to her team mates and other friends as Lexi, says their main goal is to make everyone at home proud.

“Hungarian korfball has made strong progress in recent years. This is our chance to step up another level and show what we are capable of. We are young and enthusiastic. While we know how to have fun together, the team comes first for all of us.

“Even though we qualified by finishing in eighth place at the IKF European Korfball Championship last year, because more than half of Hungary’s national squad players are students, funding ourselves to go to South Africa was a genuine challenge and many of us struggled to make that financial commitment,” she says.

When the IKF WKC was previously held outside Europe, in 2011, budgetary constraints prevented Hungary’s participation. This time around, the team was determined to overcome that barrier.

Team Hungary

“Like several other teams that fund themselves to play international korfball, we had to make a big effort to be on the plane. Fortunately members of the team and the Hungarian Korfball Federation were able to gather enough generous support, both nationally and internationally, to confirm our entry. Putting in that hard work with the budget, and knowing that we have good support behind us, has given us even greater determination to do well at the tournament,” she says.

Training with the squad is another challenge for Lexi, who has been a student of journalism at the University of Kent in England since 2017, where she plays for local club Tornadoes, and was part of the team that recently finished third in England’s national league. She returned to Budapest at Easter and for the summer to train with the Hungarian team.

“We trained with the beach korfball team to improve our fitness. Although playing korfball for two hours in the sand is absolutely exhausting, we hope it made us stronger. Preparing with the U21s is also a good challenge, and gives us the opportunity to play against a wider range of people,” she says.

Hungary has taken advantage of korfball’s capacity for international friendship and cross-border co-operation, running two joint training camps with the Czech Republic in the lead up to Durban.

Balázs Berenyi is one Hungarian player who opponents will need to take note of in Durban. At the IKF EKC 2018 he was top scorer for the tournament, with 30 goals. In keeping with the sport’s strong family theme, Hungary’s squad also includes another Berenyi brother, Tamás, as well as three Bellusz brothers: Kristóf, Attila and Viktor. A fourth member of the Bellusz family is also coming through the ranks, sister Tamara, who was part of Hungary’s squad at the recent U19 World Korfball Cup and is the youngest member of the squad travelling to Durban.

Lexi says Hungary is looking forward to the pool games, where they will meet Suriname, Macau and China.

“We played China twice last year at the IKF U21 WKC. After winning the pool game, we lost our play off against them by golden goal, so that is a good rivalry and one that we aim to keep going in Durban,” she says.

#TeamHUN IKF WKC 2019

3: Zsófia Gáspár
4: Rozália Berki
7: Tamara Csilla Bellusz
10: Viktor Zsolt Bellusz
11: Zsolt Ferenc Majer
13: Fanni Júlia Pauly
14: Attila István Bellusz
15: Tamás Áron Berényi
17: Alexandra Falcsik
23: Sára Zsuzsanna Tasnádi
24: Enikő Beöthy
33: Kristóf Tamás Bellusz
34: György Dőrfi
35: Balázs Berényi

Coach: Barnabás Hack
Manager: Attila Erdei
Official: Jan Jouke Flokstra

#TeamHUN on social media:

► facebook.com/Magyar-Korfball-Szövetség-205667332784913
► instagram.com/korfballhu

Follow the tournament!

Live streaming games and statistics ► www.worldkorfball.sport
Tournament info, pools & schedule ► www.ikf.org/?p=6667
Official websites  ► www.korfball.sport ► www.ikfwkc2019.com

Follow all the championship also on social media visiting the following IKF profiles:
► facebook.com/korfball.org
► twitter.com/korfball
► instagram.com/korfball_org

More info and special content can be found on LOC’s tournament profiles:
► facebook.com/ikfwkc2019
► twitter.com/ikfwkc2019
► instagram.com/ikfwkc2019

Outstanding EKC sets new expectations for Germany

Beating one of korfball’s international superpowers is almost unheard of. In Europe, the only time anyone outside the top two had beaten The Netherlands or Belgium was in a semi-final at the IKF European Korfball Championship 2002 in Catalonia, when the Czech Republic overcame Belgium. Sixteen years later Germany became the first European team to repeat that feat, winning 20-18 in their pool game against The Diamonds at the IKF EKC 2018.

Anna Orth was part of Germany’s history-making team that day, and will be back, along with most of her team-mates, for the IKF World Korfball Championship 2019 in Durban. She says it is still difficult to believe what they achieved.

“Before that game, no one seriously thought we would win. We didn’t even really believe it ourselves, which probably helped because we didn’t have that huge pressure from the first minute. We just played our game and tried not to be distracted by our opponents, the spectators or anything else,” she says.

Belgium held the lead until the 29th minute, though were never ahead by more than three.

“In the game, we sensed there was actually a good chance to win, but we knew we had to fight hard until the last moment. We just kept playing our game and trusting that everyone was doing their very best,” says Anna.

Germany only established the decisive two-goal lead with less than five seconds left, by which point their ever-enthusiastic supporters were chanting and cheering.

Team Germany

“When the game was over we realised we had actually won against Belgium. It was an amazing feeling. We couldn’t really believe it and at the same time we were so proud. Proud of what we had achieved, and of the effort everybody had put in. It definitely took a while to process all the emotions, and it was incredible to receive so much positive feedback afterwards.

“No one who was there will forget those feelings,” she says.

Going on to win the silver medal gave Germany new belief, though also adds a new kind of pressure.

“We are starting from a special position this year. Expectations are high, not only from the outside, but also from ourselves. That also pushes our motivation to play a great tournament again. We are determined to show that what we have reached last year was not by chance, but because we worked hard for it. It puts us in a different position than we are used to. Now we have to live up to high expectations,” she says.

Anna says the German team is held together by ambition, team spirit and fun.

“Most of us started playing korfball at primary school age, and we are now either university students or working full time. We mainly come from two different regions in Germany, around Dortmund and Cologne, which are about an hour apart by car. We all play for Germany’s top four clubs: SG Pegasus, TuS Schildgen, Schweriner KC and Adler Rauxel. In other German regions, korfball is not well known. We all have those conversations with people from other German cities explaining what korfball is and what makes it so special.

“We all spend a lot of time and effort on korfball, not only as players but also as coaches for example. Korfball is the main focus for all of us, next to our jobs and studies,” she says.

Germany’s captain at recent tournaments Sven Müller has retired, with Dominic Düring taking over the armband. Jan Robert Heming and Thomas Freund are stepping up from the U21 team and Pascal Demuth will also make his first national team appearance, as will Lea Witthaus. Anna says these new players add additional options to the team, set alongside the structure and experience of more established German stars like Anna Schulte, Jana Kierdorf and Timon Orth.

They are looking forward to defending their fifth place in the IKF rankings, particularly against Portugal, who they meet in a pool game on the third day, says Anna.

“Playing Portugal is always a great challenge, especially after the last tournament where we played each other twice and Germany won both. Portugal won’t make it easy, though since we won the IKF EKC silver medal, neither will anyone else, and we are very aware of that.

“We definitely want to end up in first in our pool, then see, from game to game, what will be the next step.”

#TeamGER IKF WKC 2019

3: Johanna Gnutt
4: Jana Kierdorf
5: Anna Schulte
6: Anna Orth
8: Lea Sander
12: Dominic Duering
13: Pascal Demuth
15: Timon Orth
16: Steffen Heppekausen
17: Johanna Peuters
18: Johanna Treffts
20: David Liepold
22: Jan Robert Heming
23: Thomas Freund
25: Lea Witthaus

Coach: Wilco Van Den Bos
Manager: Jochen Schittkowski
Physios: Tobias Kehlenbach, Dominik Werthmann

#TeamGER on social media:

► facebook.com/Korfball-Deutschland-185958044849782
► twitter.com/KorfballDE
► instagram.com/korfballde

Follow the tournament!

Live streaming games and statistics ► www.worldkorfball.sport
Tournament info, pools & schedule ► www.ikf.org/?p=6667
Official websites  ► www.korfball.sport ► www.ikfwkc2019.com

Follow all the championship also on social media visiting the following IKF profiles:
► facebook.com/korfball.org
► twitter.com/korfball
► instagram.com/korfball_org

More info and special content can be found on LOC’s tournament profiles:
► facebook.com/ikfwkc2019
► twitter.com/ikfwkc2019
► instagram.com/ikfwkc2019

China set to capitalise on outstanding development programme

China goes to South Africa sitting at number four in the IKF world rankings. Having only joined the top level of korfball 12 years ago, playing in the WKCs of 2007, 2011 and 2015, their current position compares favourably to several longer established korfball nations, and is a tribute to the hard work and great focus that has gone into their development. Finishing in fifth place at the 2017 World Games, and second at the 2018 IKF Asia Oceania Korfball Championships, is a mark of their progress.

Zhao Jing, known in international korfball as Jammy, is the captain of the Chinese team. A graduate of Zhengzhou University, the home of korfball in China, Jammy started playing the sport in 2011 and now works at the International Korfball Development Research Center of Zhengzhou University, so is China’s first, and so far only, professional korfball athlete.

“We aim to maintain our top five world ranking, and to qualify for the 2021 World Games. We have been assisted by Ben Crum coming to China to help us train. We also hosted the second Eurasian Korfball Competition in Zhengzhou in June,” she says.

China finished third in that tournament, which was also attended by the Netherlands, Chinese Taipei, New Zealand, Hong Kong, India and Thailand. Further pre-WKC preparation for China included a joint week of training with Chinese Taipei and the Dutch U21 team.

Despite the rising success of China in world korfball, and the adoption of the sport in the education system, where students at more than 200 schools in China study korfball in physical education, and almost 60 schools have their own korfball team, Jammy says there is no complacency in the Chinese korfball community.

Team China

“Even though korfball is becoming established in our universities, when players finish learning and start working, their korfball ends. We are therefore taking korfball into middle and primary schools, so that children can understand and learn our sport as young as possible. Although some schools have started with korfball, because coaches don’t know much about training methods, we still have a long way to go,” she says.

Zhengzhou University and the International Korfball Development Research Center, under the guidance of Professor Ma Xiangcheng, is leading the way, both in China and beyond. Jammy says the center has developed rapidly in the last two years.

“Although Zhengzhou University’s involvement with korfball started in 2005, the center was not set up until April 2017. We now cover many specialisations, including teaching korfball, scientific research into korfball, competition, training high-level personnel to develop korfball and using korfball to assist social services in China. Our objectives are to promote korfball in China, and become an active home for korfball in Asia.

“We have three major focuses of work: training and competition, international communication, and academic research. At present, most of the national squad players are from Zhengzhou University, so this is the location for national team training. Before any international match, players of every age group come here for selection and preparation. Most of the schools in China that want to teach or play korfball send teachers here to study, at least twice a year for coaches and referees.

“We have more than 10 graduate athletes majoring in korfball at the center. Besides training, they carry out academic research, mainly relating to training. We also recently published China’s first korfball textbook, edited by Professor Ma,” she says.

As China’s first korfball professional, Jammy’s duties include assisting Professor Ma in the promotion of korfball, as well as organising competitions and training. She is assistant coach of Zhengzhou University, training the team each afternoon and evening. Earlier this year Jammy spent three months in the Netherlands to increase her korfball knowledge, including serving as assistant coach of the Chinese U19 team and passing the IKF Level 3 coaching course.

Zhengzhou University has provided several of the players in China’s team, while others are graduates of Southwest University and Tianjin University of Science and Technology.

“Those who have graduated are now working in primary schools, junior high schools or universities as sports teachers, or doing sports-related work. That kind of work makes it easier for us to continue participating in korfball.

“Several of our other players are Zhengzhou graduate and undergraduate students, while Zhe Heng Tang, called Tom, is also a graduate student at the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom, where he participates in korfball with the university club, alongside his study,” says Jammy.

#TeamCHN IKF WKC 2019

2: Jing Zhao
3: Qing Wang
4: Jingyi Yin
5: Xin Li
6: Yuran Fu
7: Xiaoxi Chen
11: Dongjie Zhang
14: Xi Wang
15: Jingyuan Sun
16: Yongbin Yang
17: Fei Xiao
19: Litian Cao
20: Qi Wang
26: Siying Wang
29: Shengsi Li
34: Shuaitan Hu

Coach: Xiangcheng Ma
Manager: Jinhong Huang
Officials: Jun Shangguan, Ben Crum, Liming Liu

#TeamCHN on social media:

► facebook.com/China-korfball-725114570942838

Follow the tournament!

Live streaming games and statistics ► www.worldkorfball.sport
Tournament info, pools & schedule ► www.ikf.org/?p=6667
Official websites  ► www.korfball.sport ► www.ikfwkc2019.com

Follow all the championship also on social media visiting the following IKF profiles:
► facebook.com/korfball.org
► twitter.com/korfball
► instagram.com/korfball_org

More info and special content can be found on LOC’s tournament profiles:
► facebook.com/ikfwkc2019
► twitter.com/ikfwkc2019
► instagram.com/ikfwkc2019