Day 1: Quotes of the Day
08 Oct. 2018
On the opening day of the men’s and women’s beach handball competitions at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, IHF.info brings you a selection of quotes from those involved in the historic day.
Lisanne BAKKER (NED) – goalkeeper:
On scoring the first-ever beach handball points in Olympic history in her sides’ 2:0 (18:14, 14:20) win over Paraguay:
“I feel great, but I didn’t know it. I saw their specialist wasn’t off of the court yet, and their goalkeeper was not on, so I gave it a go and just thought ‘I have to throw it in the goal’.”
On the Netherlands’ performance:
“I think we didn’t play our best match, but we won, and that’s what is important – we have a good feeling and we’re ready for our next match.”
Read the full interview on IHF.info
On opening their campaign with two victories out of two:
“The team is getting better and everything is going well, but we have to improve in defence and offence. Of course there are problems, but we can improve ourselves.”
On what they want to achieve in Buenos Aires as current U17 World Champions:
“I am really excited to be here playing in Argentina. We would like to repeat a gold medal, but our first goal is to enjoy the Olympic Games and live for every moment and be happy.”
Watch the interview on IHF Instagram
Guillermo GARCIA-CABANAS CARQUES (ESP) – goalkeeper:
On if he feels the pressure from teams having extra motivation to beat his side as they are U17 World Champions:
“A little bit, but in this kind of tournament everyone is as good as us, so we don’t feel like we are the best ones, we are at the level of the other ones.”
On how it feels to play in an Olympic Games:
“It sounds amazing to say that I have played at an Olympic Games. Very, very few people at my age can say that and I am one of the few ones.
“We have to be very focussed on our games - we came here to represent our country. A lot of people believe in us, so we have to focus here and have success and then we can do anything we want out there.”
On why people should play beach handball:
“It’s a fun sport – you have lots of fun with your teammates and make a lot of friends.”
Read the full interview on IHF.info
Jimena RIADIGOS (ARG) – pivot:
On her emotion stepping on to a home court in front of all the fans:
“Since we jumped on court, we all felt like crying, but Leticia (coach) brought us all back and said we had to be here, we had to play, so we tried to put our feet back on the ground again.”
On winning their first match, against Turkey:
“We ended our first match with a debut victory and to meet your family straight after that is super moving. Now it's impossible to hold back the tears.”
On what they can achieve at the Youth Olympic Games:
“We want the gold medal and we have the aim in our head constantly. We know we have to go step-by-step to accomplish it - that’s the key.”
Watch the interview on IHF Instagram
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