Women: Hungary (HUN)

Coach: Zoltan PINIZSI

Key Players: Csenge BRAUN (specialist), Greta HADFI (goalkeeper), Reka KIRALY (right wing), Dalma MATEFI (goalkeeper)

Path to Buenos Aires 2018: Winners – 2017 IHF Women’s U17 Beach Handball World Championship

Having hosted the 2016 IHF Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Budapest, Hungarian beach handball continues its rise with their men’s senior team winning bronze at Kazan 2018 and now their women’s younger-age team hoping to complete a clean-sweep of international titles with a gold medal in Buenos Aires at the Youth Olympic Games.

A fourth-placed finish at the 2017 EHF EURO U17 was bettered in Mauritius as the Hungarian women won the 2017 IHF Women’s U17 Beach Handball World Championship and then added another gold medal this year with the 2018 EHF EURO U18 title, won on the sand in Montenegro.

For head coach Zoltan Pinizsi, who started coaching back in 2000, taking over the national team in 2006, he brings his team to Buenos Aires fully relaxed.

“There is absolutely no pressure on the team in Argentina,” said Pinizsi, ahead of the Games. “Winning the world and European championships are an advantage for us as we had pressure before we won them, but now, the players do not care about pressure.

“They are relatively experienced as they have been playing this sport for many years,” he continued. “They know exactly which matches are important and know what to do in certain situations – there is a good relationship between the coaching staff and the team of players we are all looking forward to working together again.”

At that first-ever U17 Beach Handball World Championship, held on Flic-en-Flac beach in Mauritius, Hungary had a near-dominant performance on their way to gold – and automatic qualification for Buenos Aires.

In their preliminary group they beat Croatia 2:1 (9:3, 10:6, 5:4 SO), Paraguay 2:0 (27:10, 15:10) and Argentina 2:0 (24:16, 19:13) before defeating Chinese Taipei 2:0 (26:13, 20:18) in their first main round match. But their next match, against Netherlands, saw them lose 2:1 after being defeated 6:5 in the shoot-out. Despite this loss, they still made the quarter-finals, where they beat Spain 2:1 (19:23, 23:20, 5:4 SO) and then dispatched Portugal 2:0 in the semi-finals.

Revenge was gained on the ultimate stage when they defeated the Dutch in the final, winning 2:1 (23:24, 23:16, 7:4 SO).

And just over one year later, the Netherlands were beaten again in a final – this time at the 2018 EHF EURO U18 held in Montenegro, with a 2:0 victory for Hungary thanks to eight points from Rebeka Benzsay and seven each from specialists Sara Lerant and Csenge Braun.

This had come after the Hungarians had lost their opening match 2:1 against Spain but they quickly turned it around with 2:0 victories against Switzerland, Italy and Turkey in the preliminary round, defeating Russia in the quarter-finals and overcoming Portugal in the last four.

“We want to get into the best four in Buenos Aires and I think it is possible, but of course, we want to be on the podium,” said coach Pinizsi. “We are working hard now - we know 90% of the participating teams, but we will not underestimate any of the teams. We know both our European rivals – Croatia and Russia – having played Russia in a tough match earlier this year, plus Croatia too, and in our training camp before.

“We do not know what kind of squads our opponents will be bringing to Buenos Aires, so I cannot make an early prediction, but I am sure that the Netherlands and Argentina will be our main rivals.”

Hungarian players to keep an eye out for on the sand in Argentina are specialist Csenge Braun, right wing Reka Kiraly and goalkeepers Greta Hadfi and Dalma Matefi, who was named in the EHF EURO 2018 All-Star Team as best goalkeeper.

In preparation for Buenos Aires Pinizsi’s side – along with the Hungarian men’s team – will hold two phases of training camp in Budaors, Hungary which include preparation games against group rivals Croatia, set to take place on 24 September, before they travel to Argentina where they will continue their training and preparation.

The Hungarian women will be in Preliminary Group A at Buenos Aires 2018 alongside American Samoa, Mauritius, Russia, Croatia and Chinese Taipei.

You can follow the Hungary team on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Group at Buenos Aires 2018
Group A: Hungary (HUN), Chinese Taipei (TPE), Croatia (CRO), American Samoa (ASA), Mauritius (MRI), Russia (RUS)

Preliminary Group A: Match Schedule
All times local

Monday 8 October
11:40    HUN vs ASA
16:10    MRI vs HUN

Tuesday 9 October
10:50    HUN vs RUS
15:20    CRO vs HUN

Wednesday 10 October
11:40    HUN vs TPE