MRI 2017 (Men’s)
— Group A: Brazil, Chinese Taipei, Pakistan and Mauritius
Overview:
Brazil
As it
happens with their senior beach handball teams, the U17 Brazil men’s side want
to become a world powerhouse. “The strength of our team comes from the way our
players perceive this handball modality. Actually, some of our athletes were
never indoor players, they grew with beach handball. This identity and
compromise can help us,” explains the Pan American Championship winners’ head
coach, Djhandro Ricardo.
“We
understand that this is part of a consolidation process in which we must find
athletes to meet the expectations of our senior national team,” the coach
explained. But that doesn’t mean they don’t aim high ahead of the U17 IHF Beach
Handball World Championship: “We must be focused all the time. Our goal is to
reach the top, as we dream with qualifying for the Youth Olympic Games in 2018.
Becoming the World Champions is in our minds 24 hours a day.”
Chinese Taipei
Chinese Taipei were silver medallists at
the Asian Qualification for the Men’s U17 Beach Handball World Championship in
Mauritius. In Pataya, Thailand, they beat Iran (2:1), Qatar (2:0), Pakistan
(2:0) but lost to Thailand 2:0, what deprived them from gold.
Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Pakistan are
the three Asian participants which will contend for two spots at the 2018 Youth
Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
Pakistan
“Our dream is to qualify for the Youth
Olympic Games,” affirms Pakistan head coach Naseer Ahmad. “We have a balanced
team and all sides are equally good.”
To reach the YOG Buenos Aires 2018, the
Pakistani side will have to play their best at Mauritius 2017 and rank higher
than Thailand or Chinese Taipei. Precisely because of that, their preliminary
phase match versus their neighbours Chinese Taipei may be considered a final. Will
Pakistan be able to take revenge for their 2:0 loss at the Asian Qualification
Tournament?
Mauritius
“Without any doubt the Brazilians are one
step above the rest of the group. We didn’t have any clear idea about the other
two opponents, but Group A looked like the most attainable and that’s why we
chose it,” clarifies Mauritius coach Ludovic Carre.
The hosts aim to advance to the main round
of the U17 World Championship. Their expectations are growing thanks to a hard
preparation, while the plus of playing at home may provide the rest.
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