For several years now, there has been a strong sense that the EHF Champions League for men has yet to find its ideal format. The approach used in recent years does allow for a fairly large number of countries to have a team involved, but the drawn-out group stage has tended to become a predictable […]...
By Altay Atli Handball biographies are a rare commodity, probably because publishers do not see any profits in this genre, or also because retired world-class handball players do not bother to put into writing their experiences and reflections on the sports. A recent exception provides a gem of story of a life devoted to handball. […]...
The North American and Caribbean Men’s Handball Championships will qualify 4 teams for this summer’s Pan American Handball Championships in Uruguay. With 5 nations participating this means only 1 nation won’t punch their ticket for Uruguay. There’s still quite a few games to be played, but with Puerto Rico having lost their first two matches […]...
Guest columnist, Altay Atli, is a lecturer in international relations and economics based in Istanbul, Turkey. Altay is a former handball player, a former handball manager, a former handball journalist and forever, a handball fan. His work involves a considerable amount of travel and the opportunity to see handball played in many parts of the world. […]...
Europe When a few days ago I predicted that Croatia, Denmark, France and Spain would move through to the semifinals, I was almost hoping that I would be wrong. An event needs some surprises to have real spark, but no other team was capable of causing any upsets towards the end. Poland came back from […]...
If you’ve been watching the European Handball Championships online you’ve surely heard commentator Paul Bray’s distinct voice and delivery. You may not be aware, though, that Paul has been a handball commentator now for 25 years. Back in 2007 at the Handball World Championship in Germany I sat down to discuss his handball background and […]...
The preliminary round of the African Championships for men and women finished today, even if almost all of the teams advancing to the semifinals were known already yesterday. On the women’s side, I had suggested that the main question was which other team would join the three recent World Championship participants in the semifinals. Not […]...
The preliminary group matches have now been completed and we can look ahead to the more interesting part of the event. Yes, there were some last-minute fights to avoid the fourth place in the groups and an early departure for home. But at the top of each group, with maximum points brought forward to the […]...
While handball Europe is focused on EURO 2014 which just got underway, the African continent will start its championship tournaments in Algeria on January 16. This event, which is the 21st of its kind, combines the men’s and women’s competition and serves as Africa’s qualifying event for the World Championships in 2015 (hosted by Qatar […]...
On many earlier occasions, John Ryan and I have taken turns ‘sticking our necks out’ and offering predictions for the outcome of major events. This time we want to give YOU the chance to demonstrate your expertise and ability to predict what will happen! EURO 2014 for men starts in Denmark on Sunday. The format […]...
No, do not worry; you have not missed out on any late-breaking news. Handball is not being moved to the Winter Olympics. But I figured that, as sports fans, you are still taking some interest in what will happen in Sochi, where events will get underway a month from now. Perhaps you will follow the […]...
Much has been written or said about Brazil’s historic run to the title at the recently completed Women’s World Championship. And, with good reason; It was truly historic for a Pan American team to win a title in convincing fashion. If it wasn’t obvious before, there is now undeniable proof that the Brazilian women […]...
First there were rumors, and as John Ryan recently indicated, now there is confirmation: the IHF has managed to sell the TV rights for 2014-17 to a friendly business partner, Qatar’s Al Jazeera. The exact amount has not been officially confirmed, but there are indications of a record amount (about 100 million Swiss Francs, roughly […]...
After we have now had time to celebrate the Brazilian triumph, there may still be some additional observations to make. First of all, I was delighted to the see the highly unusual amount of coverage in Brazilian media, perhaps in part because the event coincided with the vacation period in football… There were proud comments […]...
Commentary: Outside of handball’s stronghold in Europe only the occasional story ever gets published in mainstream news outlets. Case in point, you would find nothing about the Brazilian women’s World Championship title run in American news outlets. Recent stories by CNN International and the Dallas Morning News are the exception and bizarrely they both highlight […]...
So the many years of efforts finally paid off! Brazil’s women have been close to the very top for a long while now, but always there was that one match that derailed the move towards the medal podium. In the 2012 Olympics, Brazil surprisingly won one of the two groups, but instead of getting a […]...
Tomorrow’s World Championship final is a refreshing change of pace from the more predictable outcomes in recent years. While it might not have been surprising for either the home side or the quality Brazilian club to find their way to the final it is truly a surprise for both teams to make it. Both Serbia […]...
A few short notes on today’s semifinal matches at the Women’s World Championships. Poland vs Serbia, 1800 CET / 1200 U.S. Eastern Time With the elimination of pre-tournament favorites, Norway, Montenegro and France, the host Serbs are now the top favorite to win the tournament. They are a 2.5 goals favorite over the surprising […]...
It’s taken several months for the Nominating & Governance Committee to complete its work to select three new Board Members, but they are clearly to be commended for their ultimate selections, Dr. Harvey Schiller, Mike McNees and Bob Djokovich. This post on the USA Team Handball website provides some top level background on each of […]...
Well, at least some of my predictions for the semifinals worked out: Denmark will indeed get the chance to have revenge on Brazil for the loss in the preliminary round, but the Norway-France pairing will not materialize. Both teams made their way to the quarterfinals, but there it came to an end. France had looked […]...