After his side made it three preliminary group wins out of three at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in the morning session today with a nail-biting 2:1 (17:16, 16:21, SO 7:6) shoot-out win against U17 world champions Spain, 2.05-metre Hungary pivot Benedek Toth spoke to IHF.info about the competition so far and what it means to play in an Olympic Games.
IHF.info: You would have preferred to beat the U17 world champions 2:0 after you won the first period 1:0, but it took a shoot-out in the end to decide the result. How do you feel?
Benedek TOTH: It feels amazing; a win is a win. We won and are very happy – it feels amazing. We have had a lot of shoot-outs in the past and we were counting on our experience from those.
It was important to stay focussed in our heads, but, in the end, we stood up and won the match.
IHF.info: Last summer the Spanish team beat you in the 2017 EHF EURO U17 final, did that give you a little extra motivation today?
Benedek TOTH: We were thinking about it a little bit, but they have changed the team and their game so much since then, so we were preparing for the Spanish team which is playing right now.
IHF.info: Did it motivate you even further as Spain are current U17 world champions?
Benedek TOTH: It means a lot to beat the world champions – that title helped us to focus more and be more prepared.
IHF.info: Did you ever think you would represent your country in beach handball at an Olympic Games when you first started playing the games?
Benedek TOTH: When I started playing beach handball, I just thought, you know, it’s a cool sport, the music is playing, we are on the beach, so I felt really happy and I could enjoy the game.
Until my first European championship I didn’t think about it too much, but then I was brave enough to dream big, and now we are here with a little bit of luck, and we will do anything we can.
IHF.info: Can you describe the feeling when you stepped onto the Olympic sand for the first time?
Benedek TOTH: Not really it was…I was very happy. I just thought ‘it’s the Olympic Games with the best teams’. We know we can win, but we have to work hard - it feels amazing to step on Olympic sand.