A little bit of history was be made this evening in the Sizihwan Bay Beach Handball Arena.

 

For the first time a female pair of referees took control of a men’s final in a major beach handball championship.

 

The referees, Polish couple, Johanna Brehmer and Agnieska Skowronek, were nominated by the IHF competition management to officiate the final of the World Games between Hungary and Brazil.

 

“We’ve had our best tournament so far,” said Brehmer. “We’ve been very happy with how we have both performed in this event, I think we’ve been consistent and worked very well together.”

 

The pair refereed the women’s final at the Beach Euro in Cuxhaven, their first major championship, and also refereed at the Beach Euro in Italy in 2007 and at the 2008 Youth Beach European Championships in Hungary.

 

“We’ve gained a lot of experience in international beach handball since we passed our EHF beach exams in 2005,” she said. “I think this has been the key to our solid performance.”

 

Asked if they were nervous about ahead of the evening’s game, Brehmer was definite in her answer.

 

 “We’re not nervous but every match is important to us and we’ll do the best job we possibly can,” she said.