Coach:
Patrekur Johannesson
Key
players: Nikola Bilyk (Left back), Robert Weber (Right wing)
Qualification
information: Winner of European play-off versus Belarus
History in
tournament: 1938: 2nd, 1954: DNQ, 1958: 9th-12th, 1961-1990: DNQ, 1993:
14th, 1995-2009: DNQ, 2011: 18th, 2013: DNQ, 2015: 13th, 2017: DNQ
Austria
are a team on the rise in men’s handball, arriving in Denmark for the 26th
World Championship for what is their sixth participation in the event. In 2017,
the team qualified for their second European championship, hinting that they
may be making more regular appearances at major international tournaments than
in the past.
Following
their silver medal at the very first handball World Championship in 1938,
Austria have not only ranked outside the top teams but have had little luck
qualifying for major events. From 1954 to 2009, Austria qualified for the World
Championship only twice, but the last decade has brought more success. Since
2011, they have secured three World Championship berths (2011, 2015 and 2019)
and their first qualifications for the EURO (2014 and 2018). Now, the squad are
looking into the future with optimism – thanks in particular to some bright
young prospects coming through the ranks.
21-year-old
Nikola Bilyk is a well-established star despite his young age. He was recruited
by top German side THW Kiel in 2016 and has already played more than 50 matches
for the national team. At the EURO 2018, Bilyk was Austria’s top scorer with 19
goals in three matches played. The left back will not only be a key player at
Germany/Denmark 2019, but well into the future.
To qualify
for the 2019 World Championship, Austria won their two-leg European
qualification play-off against Belarus with a 59:54 aggregate score (28:28,
31:26). The result was quite an upset considering Belarus’ stronger record in
recent years and the fact that they won in the mutual EURO 2018 encounter.
Therefore, Austria will travel to Herning for their group C encounters with
confidence.
“It’s
great what we have achieved, because we couldn’t take the victory in the
play-off against Belarus for granted. I was very satisfied with the team in
those two games. Compared to the match against the Belarusians at the European
championship six months before, that was an enormous improvement in quality,”
says coach Patrekur Johannesson.
In group
C, Austria will meet World Championship co-hosts Denmark, 2017 World
Championship silver medallists Norway, Saudi Arabia and Chile. Their group
phase campaign will conclude with an interesting encounter for Bilyk – Austria
will take on Tunisia, the country where Bilyk was born, when his father was
playing as a goalkeeper for Esperance Sportive de Tunis.
“We go to
Herning to get to the top three of the group. That’s what we have to focus on
now. The favourites in our group are Denmark and Norway.
Saudi Arabia plays unpredictable handball,” says Johannesson, while Bilyk
comments on the importance of the experience and the team’s goals at GER/DEN
2019:
“The
experience to be part of a World Championship tournament in two of the handball
most enthusiastic countries in the world is great – for me personally, but also
for our entire team. We were drawn into a group where we have the chance to go
beyond the preliminary round, like in 2015. That is our hope and our dream.”
Fans can
follow Austria on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Group at Germany/Denmark 2019
Group C: Austria, Denmark, Norway, Tunisia, Chile, Saudi Arabia
Games at
Germany/Denmark 2019
All times
local
Friday 11 January Saudi
Arabia vs Austria (18:00)
Saturday 12 January Austria vs Chile
(15:00)
Monday 14 January Norway vs Austria
(17:30)
Tuesday 15 January Austria vs
Denmark (20:45)
Thursday 17 January Austria vs
Tunisia (17:30)
IHF &
Germany/Denmark 2019 Official Channels
Follow the 2019 IHF Men’s Handball World
Championship on our website as well as on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. And make sure you don’t
miss anything on the World Championship’s official Facebook and
Instagram channels.
Photo: Austrian Handball Federation