Women: Russia (RUS)

 

Coach: Anna SIDORICHEVA

 

Key Players: Anna IVANOVA (right wing), Anastasia SKRIPKA (pivot), Victoria DAVYDOVA (right wing)

 

Path to Buenos Aires 2018: Re-Allocation process

 

Russia qualified for Buenos Aires 2018 after receiving one of the unallocated places available and they will be one of the main contenders for a podium spot in Argentina after their sixth-place finish at the 2018 EHF EURO U18 Beach Handball Championship, held in Ulcinj, Montenegro earlier this year.

 

All but one of the players listed in the Youth Olympic Games squad were in the team which played in Montenegro with Anna Ivanova, Anastasia Skripka, Victoria Davydova, Ekaterina Karabutova, Sofya Savina, Kristina Grigorovskaya, Sofia Krakhmaleva and Ekaterina Karpova all named – specialist Anna Volkova, who plays her club handball for Stavropole, is the new addition.

 

On their way to that sixth-place finish, Russia beat Greece (2:0), Poland (2:1) and Germany (2:1) in the preliminary round but lost 2:0 to Hungary in the quarter-finals. In the 5-8 placement round, they beat Ukraine 2:0 and then lost to Spain 2:1. Pivot Anastasia Skripka top-scored with 51 points, thanks to an 81% shot success rate and she was followed closely by Davydova (46 points, 62%), Savina (44/70%) and Ivanova (42/68%).

 

A year previously, in Zagreb, Croatia, the Russian women finished sixth again, this time at the 2017 EHF EURO U17 Beach Handball Championship.

 

Davydova top-scored for her country with 70 points (56%), followed by Ivanova and Skripka on 56 points each after they beat Croatia 2:1, Spain 2:1 and Switzerland 2:0 and lost to Portugal (2:0) and Lithuania (2:1) in the preliminary round. They lost in the quarter-final (2:1) against Germany which was then followed by a shoot-out win against Lithuania (2:1) in the first of their 5-8 placement matches, before Spain defeated them 2:0 in the 5/6 play-off.

 

While Russia coach Anna Sidoricheva may have admitted that her side “…has no key players, no individuals – our team is strong and plays as a single mechanism,” it is clear that Davydova, Skripka and Ivanova are crucial to her side and she admitted to the Russian Olympic Committee website that the team in Montenegro was “the strongest in the history of this team.”

 

Sidoricheva started her coaching career in 2004 and four years later in 2008 – after being inspired by Vladimir Kiyashko – she took up coaching on the sand with many of the players she mentored going on to win European and World Championships.

 

“I expect a positive and confident attitude from all of my players,” said Sidoricheva, who is the daughter-in-law of Lyubov Sidoricheva, the Russian women’s U18 national team coach for the indoor version of the game.

 

“I hope that my players will show their beautiful game but there will be no weak opponents in Buenos Aires. We shall prepare for every game as if it is our last.”

 

In preparation for Argentina, the Russian women organised two training camps in Russia – in Korolyov, Moscow Oblast (September 22-29) on an indoor sand court and currently, they are preparing at the Novogorsk Training Centre (September 29 – October 1).

 

“I am really looking forward – and dreaming – that after the Youth Olympic Games has finished, beach handball as a sport will achieve a new, higher status,” concluded Sidoricheva as she looked forward to the sports’ debut at the Olympics – and she will be hoping that her team can repeat the feat of the Russian women at the last Olympics with handball in Rio 2016, where Russia won gold.

 

Sidoricheva’s team will be in Preliminary Group A at Buenos Aires 2018 alongside American Samoa, Mauritius, Hungary, Croatia and Chinese Taipei.

*After this preview was published Ekaterina Karpova was replaced in the squad by Alina Sinelnikova. Sinelnikova had been training with the team in Korolyov, as part of the wider squad. The HC Zvevda player was part of the U18 women's indoor team which recently won the 2018 IHF Women's Youth World Championship in Poland. 

Follow Russia on the official federation’s website, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, OK and VK.  

 

Group at Buenos Aires 2018

Group A: Hungary (HUN), Chinese Taipei (TPE), Croatia (CRO), American Samoa (ASA), Mauritius (MRI), Russia (RUS)

 

Match Schedule

All times local

 

Monday 8 October

11:40    TPE vs RUS    

16:10    RUS vs CRO   

 

Tuesday 9 October

10:50    HUN vs RUS

15:20    RUS vs ASA

 

Wednesday 10 October

11:40    MRI vs RUS

    

Photo: Handball Federation of Russia