IHF.info spoke with the players and coaches involved in the medal matches of the 2025 IHF Men's and Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championships in Hammamet, Tunisia.

Men’s Gold Medal Match: Germany vs Spain 0-2 (8:16, 12:15)

Robin JOHN DEL CASTILLO CLANCHY, Spain - gold

On becoming world champions:
“Yeah. World champions. It feels amazing. It’s such an achievement. We did amazing on the court. We’re so satisfied of the work we’ve done this whole year, and even before when we won the European championship. We are now just going to celebrate. We’re flying tonight, but tomorrow, party. I think we can continue to stand on top of the podium next year.

On the possibility of competing at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games:
“I hope we will. We might win that too.”

Jorge GUILLERMO ALMENDROS COLLADA, Spain - gold

On becoming world champions:
“It’s incredible, the best experience of my life. Beach handball is so incredible. It’s the best sensation of my life.”

Marcos GARCIA LOPEZ-IBARRA, Spain - gold

On becoming world champions:
“It’s the best feeling of my life, I never felt something like this, it’s my dream since I was a child. Rpresenting my country, is such an honour. I would like to dedicate my life to this sport, because it gave everything to me.”

On playing Germany:
“The biggest challenge was the attack as their defence was so good. Other than that, we were the better team.”

Marcos LAZARO MALUENDA, Spain - gold

On becoming world champions:
“I don’t know what these feelings are. I don’t know what to say. I’m really happy. The match was the most difficult. We had to change a lot of things, a lot of players, a lot of positions, but we finally won. We are fantastic. We had to train a lot, but this is amazing so it was very worth it.

“The next competition is the European championship on the 1st of July and we are going to try to win it.”

Jesus SANCHEZ DE LA NIETA GARCIA, Spain - gold

On winning the world championship
“It’s amazing being a gold medallist. It’s a feeling we’ve all been looking forward to. We all trained a lot, and I think we deserved it. It’s such an amazing feeling, we are so excited. This is pure joy.”

On playing Germany in the final:
“The biggest challenge in this match was attacking because they have a really good defence and a nice goalkeeper – that was the toughest thing.”

On the atmosphere in the central court during the final:
“The energy in the central court was very good, with all our parents and friends cheering. They are the best.”

On what is next:
“There’s another tournament, the Europe Championship. There will be so many matches and we hope to win it as well.”

Hugo BORJA GUERRERO DIAZ, Spain - gold

On winning gold:
“It’s incredible. We are champions of the world. This sensation is the best in the world. Oh my God, we’ve been working all year for this and we nailed it. My dream is to play one day in the Olympic Games.”

Sebastian HERNANDEZ LOPEZ, Spain coach - gold

On beating Germany for gold:
“This match was very incredible because Germany is a good team but Spain are a good team too and it was a spectacle of beach handball. It's emotion. The final set is a wonderful display of beach handball.

“It's incredible for me, but this is the emotion for the players, for beach handball around the world, for Spain and its emotion for me. I like to work this group because we work only 11 days, but they work very hard, day-on-day.”

Thure BIELFELDT, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On losing the final, but winning silver:
“It’s alright, they (Spain) were better today. They played slightly better and so we lost. I feel good enough to see a brighter future. The European Championships are not that far away and I hope we’ll make them understand we’re able to win too.”

Yannick ALT, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On losing the final but winning a silver medal:
“I feel great, it’s a dream for us. Unfortunately, it’s not the gold medal, but we’re very happy to wear the silver medal. The road to the finals was great we had some very tough games, very low point games, but we always kept cool, doing our thing and we are on the podium now.”

On his experience in the final and at Tunisia 2025:
“The crowd was amazing. It was a dream to play in the finals. I’ll never forget this week. It’s been such a great world championship here in Tunisia.”

Tim PERSE, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On losing the final but winning a silver medal:
“It’s a crazy feeling that I can’t describe. We worked the whole year for this point and I am happy with the silver medal. Our biggest strength was keeping a cool head and staying focused on the match, and controlling our emotions to show the fans that we want to win the game. I’m proud of the team, we did a great week of beach handball.”

Bjarne ROLLMANN, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On losing the final, but winning a silver medal:
"We lost and we’re disappointed, still, we won the silver medal thankfully and hopefully in the future we will get the gold medal.”

Theo JAKOBI, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On his silver medal:
“Now, I'm happy, but I wanted to be the world champion. Maybe next time, in a few years.”

On how he has seen the team grow over the past week as captain:
“As a team we got closer and closer and now we are a team. It's not the gold medal, but the silver medal shows that we are good team. We are ‘One team, One dream’ and I am I'm very proud that Finn (JACOBSEN) and Tayo (FINNBERG RODRIGUEZ) won awards in the All-star Team – they did everything to get them.”

Finn JACOBSEN, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony)  - silver

On what the secret of German beach handball is, with constant medals at world championship level:
“It's very good trainers, and a lot of training. In Germany, beach handball got very popular in the last years – that's the secret to German beach handball.”

On having a silver medal around his neck:
“It makes me a little bit happier, but the main goal was to win the world championship. It takes a little bit of that disappointment away from me.”

On the German fan support in Tunisia:
“In the moments where we were not with the head, they gave everything and supported us in every situation. That was good."

On winning a world championship silver medal, winning two All-star Team awards and playing beach handball in Africa:
“It feels it feels like a dream right now. I never thought that this could happen. My family all already played beach handball; my mother, my father, but I've never imagined that I come to Africa on this big stage and win such a silver medal.”

Konrad BANSA, Germany coach (speaking after the ceremony) - silver

On feeling bittersweet – losing the final, but winning silver:
“The match today is bitter, of course, because we couldn't bring our best performance in the final when you need it. Spain were tough and they made a very good match. We were almost able to score (a set). It's bitter today, because I think the chances were there, but we have to congratulate Spain for the title. We beat them in the main round, so we know we are not far away. It's a great tournament for us with the silver medal. Of course, the title is the title, but the silver medal is almost best.”

On the development of his team in Tunisia:
“The key thing is growing and the competition performance. You can train a lot on technique and tactics, but being able to perform when it's needed, and this could be seen by my players, step-by-step. For example, after losing the main round match against Croatia, we developed the mindset and the power to win three extremely tight matches. Only today, the last step wasn’t made.”

On the potential of his team:
“We are extremely proud of them; the boys, the clubs, the parents, the other boys who were not nominated right up until the last training camp. They are all part of this. We invested much time, the boys gave everything, making this event the priority for many months. To achieve this stage of the tournament is just a dream, although the moment is now – look at the guys – bitter. But how they performed, what they were able to show, was very great.”

Women’s Gold Medal Match: Spain vs Germany 2-0 (31:22, 19:18)

Maria ARNAY MANCEBO, Spain - gold

On becoming world champions:
“I don’t have words to describe this. It’s so exciting. We have won the world championships. I don’t know how to explain that. We didn’t do this individually, we did this together, as a team. I don’t know what else to say, I’m so happy.”

Lucia Selas OJEDA, Spain - gold

On winning gold:
“We are so proud of all the work we’ve done on the court. It was incredibly amazing. It's the best thing we have won the gold medal. I'm not thinking about other competitions because we’re champions of the world. That's what matters.”

Iraia BERROETA SANCHEZ, Spain - gold

On becoming world champions:
“It feels so good winning gold. After all, it’s not easy to become the world champion. This has been surreal. Everyone is happy and congratulations to both our men and women’s teams. We’re going to Turkiye for the next competition (European Championship) and we’re very excited.”

Jana MUNOZ FERNANDEZ, Spain - gold

On becoming world champions:
“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. Last year we lost against Germany and we were really emotional competing in a game against them and we won. I mean…we are now the best of the world. When we were here, I always thought we were going to win every single match.”

Abril Torres CORBERA, Spain (speaking after the closing ceremony) - gold

On becoming world champions:
“It’s still so exciting. I’m so happy, we’re such a good team.”

On what is next:
“In two weeks we have the European championship and if we play like today, we’re going to win. We can win everything after the world championships.

On the possibility of competing at the 2026 Youth Olympic Games:
“We can probably win this too. I’m sure we’re going to get there thanks to our performance.”

Inmaculada Concepcion NAVARRETE, Spain coach - gold

On becoming world champions:
"I do not believe it.  Because we play against great, great, great teams.

On how they beat Germany:
"Our defence was excellent, and that gave us more options to play. We really, really concentrated on their number 15 (Mia HERR), as she is a really, really good player."

On being a 'world champion':
"It sounds really, really good and we are very happy for the girls, because they trained very, very hard. My voice is really, really bad, but it's normal, because I can't stop talking."

On the support for her team in Tunisia and in Spain:
"I tell the fans and supporters to continue watching beach handball matches, because they are really interesting and really exciting and spectacular for the people who watch."

Marlene WAGNER, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On losing the final:
“It was so painful, even now after this small amount of time it’s still. We know we could’ve done better – especially in the first set – we know we could’ve done a better job than what we did. But now I think  it’s a lot of happiness, that we reached the final and got second place.”

On being in the All-star Team as best goalkeeper:
“I’m really proud of it.”

On the future:
“We’re going try to get better every training session we do as a team and get better with the situation of playing a final so we can do a better job than today.”

Anais KONRAD, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On losing the final, but winning a silver medal:
“We’re sad we lost the final against Spain but we also happy we made it to the podium and I think the happiness is over the sadness.”

Mikkeline OETJEN, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On losing the final but winning a silver medal:
“We are a little bit sad, but also happy we won a medal.”

Mia HERR, Germany (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On losing the final but winning a silver medal:
“It’s absolutely amazing being silver medallists. I can’t believe it right now. It would’ve been nice to win the gold medal, but silver is also a very good prize.”

On her experience at Tunisia 2025:
“In general, our game together as a team and our defence were our biggest strength throughout the whole competition. It was incredible that so many people were cheering for us . Especially that in the end, so many teams from other countries were rooting for us. I will miss the whole team and I’m really happy that we played together. It was a great experience and I will cherish it.”

Frowin FASOLD, Germany coach (speaking after the closing ceremony) - silver

On losing the final but winning silver:
“It's a crazy feeling, but we have to congratulate the Spanish team. They played a very, very good first set. Our ideas worked, but we made too many mistakes in the defence in the first set, and in the second set our girls fight very hard, but we made too many technical faults in the offence, and that's the result. It was a very tight match, but congratulations for the Spanish team, it’s been a great development for them.”

On his team developing throughout Tunisia 2025:
“I'm very happy to see this. We know about our abilities and our potential, but you have to show it in such a tournament, and we showed it, but, unfortunately, not in the final.

“But it’s been a great development and I'm very, very proud of these girls and proud of our work as well. All of them will have a great future. Tomorrow we can be proud about the silver medal and all these performances here.

“We have the abilities to play all the beach handball stuff; it doesn't matter what – the footwork, the defence, the options in the offence. What is important is to teach the girls to do this in the pressure situations. That's the case where we have improved this year, that under pressure we can show our abilities.”

Men’s Bronze Medal Match: Hungary vs Brazil 1-2 (18:24, 20:18, SO 12:14)

Newton PERDIZ, Brazil - bronze

On winning bronze:
“It was a dream to be here with the team and family. I'm very happy to win the medal and I gave it all I got. Now I have a dream to win the gold medal in the next competitions hopefully.”

Tiago DE MELLO, Brazil - bronze

On beating Hungary:
“It was a good game. We didn’t mind playing against Hungary. I can’t describe the feelings that I have but I’m proud of my team, of myself, of everybody.

On rebounding after losing their semi-final on Saturday:
“We felt sad after the last match but we wanted to go home with a medal and we did it. We won the bronze. We’re going to train to be better for the next competition and conquer the first place.”

Thalisson ANDRADE, Brazil - bronze

On winning via shoot-out:
"Before my shot I was calm because I practised a lot before the shoot-out. It was one of the things that we practised the most. We practised a lot before the game and before we are in Sao Paulo training, and because of this, and lots of tournaments, we won. Together we are very good. It was a great competition. I am feeling very good. I want to send a kiss to my coach, Muka."

Junior CARDOSO, Brazil coach - bronze

On his emotions after winning bronze via shoot-out:
"I am crying. I'm dead. It was very difficult for us in here. I have a dream for my boys and they are wonderful bronze champions. I'm very happy – the happiness for us.

“For me, this is a very, very important young team.”

Women’s Bronze Medal Match: Netherlands vs Hungary 2-0 (22:16, 17:12)

Nienke SLIPPENS, Netherlands - bronze

On winning bronze:
“We lost to Spain yesterday, so it feels really good to win bronze. Yesterday evening all of us were upset, so we thought; ‘we have to win tomorrow’. These thoughts helped us today. We kept the same tactic in the defence, but in offence we knew they (Hungary) had the same tactic than yesterday, so we cracked it out and it worked. 

Lynn VERDIKT, Netherlands - bronze

On winning bronze:
“It feels amazing. This was the best thing to happen after yesterday. I hope we qualify for the Youth Olympic Games. We want to go so hard.”

Demi BAKKER, Netherlands - bronze

On winning bronze:
“Now I can feel welcome at home since we won a bronze medal (laughs). Playing in the Central Court gave us a really final feeling which me and my team are proud of.”

Jip VAN OTTERLOO, Netherlands coach - bronze

On winning bronze:
“The feeling is happy, but also, we lost our winner status. Yesterday, we had our first loss with this group of players, but, today, we can only win this match. We win and we learned from yesterday - that's the key; if you lose, you need to learn off of that match and today we showed we learnt off it.”

On switching the team around from losing their semi-final, to focusing on winning bronze:
“I already played once for the bronze medal. That time was different than this group. This group have the focus. Last year we had gold at the EUROs, so then there's only one thing you want here, and that's gold. But, yesterday, we lost against Spain and they did very well. The girls were motivated to do better today than yesterday, and that is the good feeling.”

On the second set against Hungary which saw the Dutch behind, but then power to a 14:4 lead:
“What can I say? The defence won today, and in the start, I have mixed feelings with their defence, they did really good. But for me, it was difficult sometimes. That I need to accept, and that is hard for a coach."

On if he was tempted to use his time out early:
“Yesterday, I wanted to burn my time out in the start because I felt the group was losing their focus; it was away, and the heads go down. Today, I never felt the heads go down, only at the start of the first set. I think ‘why is our defence not on?’ and then, after four minutes, the defence goes on and I really enjoyed the match, I enjoyed the fighters in the field.”

On his side turning around their early second set form, which had seen them equal at 4:4 and making technical mistakes, before racing to a 12:4 lead which could have been 14:4, to effectively win the game:
“That is beach handball, exactly. Last year we played in the semi-final against Hungary and had a shoot-out and won 13:12, so we are not afraid for it, but we prefer to win 2-0. We only lost three sets here at Tunisia 2025 and I'm very happy with the group. I hope they can reach the senior team in the future.”

On returning home with a bronze:
“I am very grateful for the girls they have this as some girls never have a medal. It was disappointing to lose against Spain, but I'm also very proud that we won this match and proud of the girls. They are mentally very strong, and they showed it today. Hungary tried the same (tactics) as Spain, but we learned our lesson, as a team, and of course, also me. I feel yesterday, we failed a little bit and that's me too. That was a team problem, but today we had a team solution.”

On what is next for the team:
“I'm not sure if we play a next tournament with this group, but I will stay strong with the girls and develop them, and I hope next year they can reach the senior team. We are proud, and that is also why I wanted the highest possible ranking here. Last year, I just wanted to qualify for this world championship, so I was happy with number four, but now I'm not, because this moment could be the last one with this group, and that is sad, but for today, it was the highest possible.”

On friends and family supporting the team in Tunisia:
“It's great. We only have the girls team here, and if I see the supporters' groups of other countries we have the biggest - but only with a girls team. I'm very, very proud of them. The fans always support the girls, even if we lose, they support them, and that is why we can beat Hungary today, because they are supporting us. Also, yesterday, when we were losing the second set, they stayed there and that feel great; our family, friends, my parents, I'm happy to be here with all of them.”

Additional quotes from Lynda Ben Amara, Meriem Zroud and Noe Calman.