Whatever happens in Tunisia, the German involvement – which also includes their men’s team – is integral to continue the rise of the sport in a country traditionally linked to the seven-a-side ‘indoor’ version.

“It has been a great goal for the German Handball Federation over the last decade to develop a strong and successful youth education in beach handball,” explained Jens Pfander, Head of Beach Handball at the German Handball Federation, to ihf.info.

“We are very happy to be at the IHF Men’s and Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championships in Tunisia with both teams for the second time in a row. It is important for the young athletes to compete on a top level with the teams from all over the world to be best prepared for a beach handball career. As a discipline of handball, beach handball needs these highlight events like the world championships to create more interest in our beloved sport all over the world.”

And Germany will be hoping Tunisia 2025 is a ‘highlight’ event for them, having qualified for the championship thanks to their fifth place finish at the YAC 16 EURO held in Varna, Bulgaria last year.

A perfect preliminary and main round group campaign saw five 2-0 victories against Serbia, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary. Ahead of their quarter-final against Croatia it was all going well with the young side looking to emulate their senior team colleagues who have won everything in the game so far, including going through tournaments with a perfect record.

However, their last eight clash against Croatia saw a shootout loss and put the Germans out of contention for a medal, but the Germans overcame their disappointment to beat Norway and then Spain to take a top five finish.

TSG Münster and Beach & Da Gang Ladies player Mia Herr top-scored in Bulgaria for the Germans, ending with 122 points and she is part of the 10-woman squad for Tunisia selected by coach Frowin Fasold.

Rebecca Kramer, Hanna Denzler and Annika Kutschera drop out of the squad of 12 from Bulgaria, with BHC Hamburg’s Madeleine Hartmann the new addition.

Fasold concluded the preparations for his team before they departed to Tunisia with a multi-day training camp, including a three-nation tournament against France and Switzerland.

“We are very happy with the group draw,” said Fasold to ihf.info about taking on China, Kenya and Netherlands in their Tunisia preliminary group. “Facing a team from Asia, one from Africa and the current European champions already in the preliminary group stage is a great and exciting challenge. We’re entering this group with confidence.

“Based on their performances over the past year, we see the Netherlands as the clear favourites. We’ve already had a chance to observe China. They have a clear gameplan and play with great discipline. We don’t have any information on Kenya yet, but we’re really looking forward to that match.

“Our goal is not only to qualify for the main round but also to win as many sets as possible,” added Fasold. “We don’t see ourselves as favourites to reach the final, but we know we’re capable of beating any team. To achieve that however, we must consistently perform at our highest level.

“In addition to the individual development of our players, our objective is to bring our full performance potential against every opponent. The final ranking will ultimately be just a side effect of these goals.”

Tunisia 2025 is Germany’s second, successive IHF Women’s Youth Beach Handball World Championship appearance, after they made their debut at Greece 2022.

Three years ago they recorded two 2-0 preliminary group wins, against France and Romania, but lost via shoot-out against Argentina, before progress to the main round where they beat Netherlands, Greece and Puerto Rico all by 2-0. Poland then dumped them out of contention in the quarter-finals via shoot-out out (7:6) and then Argentina saw them off in the 5-8 placement round, setting up the Germans with a 7/8 placement match against Brazil, the Europeans taking a 9:6 shoot-out win.

Coach: Frowin Fasold
Key players: Marlene Wagner, Mia Herr, Emma Pilz
Qualification information: YAC 16 EURO 2024 - 5th
History in tournament: 2017: DNQ, 2022: 7th
Group at Tunisia 2025: Group B – Netherlands (NED), Germany (GER), People’s Republic of China (CHN), Kenya (KEN)