With two appearances including one title and one fourth place, Greece have quite an impressive history already in the IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship.

Their debut appearance at Russia 2018 in Kazan saw coach Maria Karantoni guide her players – led by the inspirational Magda Kepesidou in goal – to gold, with nearly all their games going to shoot-outs.

Aside from winning gold at the Mediterranean Beach Games, they could not follow up their Russia result with any medals in major competitions the following year – seventh spot at both the 2019 European Championships and at the debut ANOC World Beach Games, where they had a perfect group record of five wins (against Spain (2-1), Vietnam (2-0), Poland (2-1), China (2-0) and Australia (2-0)) before losing to Hungary 0-2 quarter-finals and then Argentina 0-2 before ending with a 2-1 victory over Spain in the 7/8 placement match.

Shortly after, covid hit the global sport scene and the 2020 IHF Beach Handball World Championships were cancelled. When competition did resume, Greece could only manage ninth spot at the 2021 European Championships and observers wondered if the 2018 gold would be a one-off.

But, as hosts of the 2022 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Heraklion, they disregarded any doubts surrounding them and went on to within a whisker of a podium spot.

A run of six wins, against Mexico (2-1), Thailand (2-0), Portugal (2-0), USA (2-0), Spain (2-1), and Denmark (2-1), saw a quarter-final clash with Argentina, but the South Americans were dispatched via shoot-out to set up a final four game against Spain – who they had beaten earlier on the Greek sand.

But in a heartbreaking match, Spain dominated and a deflated Greece, having lost 0-2, had to reset quickly for their bronze medal match against the up and coming Dutch. The hosts did not make it though, losing the first set 22:23, taking the second 19:16, but then losing a tight shoot-out 8:9 to finish fourth. Left wing Ntafini Dimitri, who is not in the China 2024 provisional squad, was later named in the All-star Team.

After being unable to take their place at The World Games a few weeks after Heraklion and with the ANOC World Beach Games then cancelled in Bali later on in the year, Greece had no further championships until the Mediterranean Beach Games and European Championships in 2023.

Their continental campaign last year in Nazare, Portugal ended with a sixth-place finish after they were beaten 0-2 by China 2024 group rivals Germany in the quarter-finals. Towards the end of the year at the same venue which hosted Greece 2022, the home side ended with silver at the third edition of the Mediterranean Beach Games, losing  2-0 in the final against Spain. 

With debutants Puerto Rico in their China 2024 group alongside title-holders Germany and record championship winners Brazil, Greece should find their way through to the main round with ease as one of the three teams, but it will be interesting to see if they can continue their record at world championship level.

“Three out of the four teams in our group – Germany, Brazil and ourselves – have been world champions so undoubtedly this group is, in my opinion, the most competitive one,” said goalkeeper Magdalini Kepesidou to ihf.info.

“We have the mentality of champions and we also like playing with the best teams in the world, so we are looking forward to the fight.”

Magdalini and coach Maria Karantoni have both been named as being part of the IHF Beach Handball Showcase on the sidelines of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and assistant to Karantoni, Sofia Dimitriou is not giving too much away ahead of China 2024.

“We are thrilled to be part of the world championship for the third time in a row,” said Dimitriou. “The team is motivated and our training sessions have been intense. Our goal is to perform at our highest level and get the best results out of it.

“All games in our group are very demanding as we have been drawn with very strong teams. We focus on each game separately and we believe that we will be able to successfully face all difficulties.”

Coach: Maria Karantoni

Key Players: Magdalini Kepesidou, Eleni Mournou

Qualification information: 2023 EHF Women’s European Beach Handball Championship – 6th 

History in Tournament: 2004-2016: DNQ, 2018: 1st, 2022: 4th

Group at China 2024: Group D: Germany, Brazil, Greece, Puerto Rico