The third edition of the Karin Cup, also known as the Aalsmeer Indoor EBT, took place in the Netherlands across three days last week, with Beach and da Gang (GER) and Westsite Amsterdam (NED) taking the senior men’s and women’s titles respectively.

From 27 to 29 December, 16 men’s teams and 12 women’s teams competed not only for the title but also for European Beach Handball Tour (EBT) points on the indoor sand courts at The Beach venue in Aalsmeer in the event organised by the Hiekka Hauskaa beach handball club.

Familiar face seals women’s gold for local side

In the women’s competition, Hiekea Bea, Westsite, Volendam, Beach Handball Tilburg, Jumbo Niedorp and Duimpje Ohmoog from the host nation (Netherlands) competed, along with Croatian side BHC Zagreb, Danish side Hei Dame Beach Handball, French team Les Touristes du Comite 06 and the German pair of Beach Bazis and CAIPIranhas.

The women from Westsite in Amsterdam took down fellow Dutch side Duimpje Omhoog in the final via shoot-out 2-1 (20:18, 16:17, SO 9:8). Omhoog, featuring many Netherlands’ international youth players, hit the crossbar with their sixth shot in sudden death, and it was left to specialist Krista Mol to sink home the single point for the victory. 

Mol played all nine matches for her country at the 2022 IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship in Heraklion last June, where they claimed bronze. The Hei Dame Beach Handball side, featuring many Danish internationals who also played on the sand in Greece, finished third.

Germans dominate in men’s competition

German and Dutch teams dominated the men’s competition, with half of the 18 teams coming from the neighbouring countries. 

German involvement included Beach and Da Gang Münster, SG Schurwald, 12 Monkeys Köln, Beach Mopeten and Beach and Da Gang Münster U21, while the host nation provided Hiekka Hauskaa U20, Beach Handball Tilburg, SV Rijnstreek and Unitas. 

France saw two teams comprising their national players, along with GFCA Beach Handball representing the tricolour. In addition, Gaeta ’84 (Italy), Hei Beach Handball (Denmark), BHC Zagreb (Croatia) and Norway completed the set of teams.

In the end, German sides finished in two of the three medal spots, Beach and da Gang defeating HEI Beach Handball for gold and 12 Monkeys finishing with bronze.

Developing the sport is the goal for organisers

“It was our first time at our new location right next to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, and it made a great spot,” said Dennis Heuvelmans, organiser of the Karin Cup 2022, to ihf.info.

“We sold out in just a few days without even making real promotion efforts. It was a successful tournament with many great matches and a good atmosphere and vibe inside and outside the courts. The big courts with a lot of space for the teams and warm heated sand are a big plus, with fans able to sit and walk all around both courts.

“This year, we had a U18 men’s international tournament with teams from Germany and Croatia and we want it to grow more next year and become more international,” he added.

“We want more youth teams in more age categories and hope that other EBT tournaments will not only organise U18 junior tournaments with local teams. I really believe that if you add a serious junior category, the younger ones will develop more and earlier on many levels, which is really great for the growth and development of the sport. 

“As usual, we asked all participating teams for feedback to make the tournament better next time and received many great compliments, but of course there are things we want to add or improve to make it even better next time.”

All days were streamed live on Twitch and can be watched again here. The venue info can be found here. 

Results

Men’s Competition

Senior

1. Beach and da Gang (GER)

2. HEI Beach Handball (DEN)

3. 12 Monkeys (GER)

U18 Results

1. BHC Zagreb

2. Feyenoord

3. Hiekka Hauskaa

U16 Results

1. Hiekka Hauskaa

2. Feyenoord

3. Jahn II

Women’s Competition

1. Westsite Amsterdam (NED)

2. Duimpje Omhoog (NED)

3. Hei Dame Beach Handball (DEN)

Photo: Markofotografie