It was only in 2014 when Marketa Jerabkova made her debut in the Czech Republic women’s senior team after impressing at the IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, when her team finished 11th, their best-ever finish in the competition.

A no-nonsense shooter, Jerabkova slowly started to improve and is now the Czech Republic’s top scorer from the roster that is playing at Spain 2021, having topped the 300-goal mark by one goal in the preliminary round win against Slovakia, 24:23.

When the Czech side play next at the 25th IHF Women’s World Championship, starting their main round adventure against the Republic of Korea, Jerabkova will also don the national team shirt for the 70th time, a remarkable feature for the 25-year-old left back, who has morphed from the future of the Czech side into the go-to player whenever things go awry.

“My first international tournament was the Women’s EHF EURO 2016 and I just went from there, I think. I surely improved from that moment, because I have been trying to get better and better all the time,” said Jerabkova to ihf.info.

Sport runs in the family for Jerabkova, as her father was a football player, while her mother was an athlete. Her brother, Jakub Jerabek, is a hockey player, who represented the Czech Republic national team and played in the NHL, the best hockey league in the world.

Therefore, it was only normal for Jerabkova to create her own path into handball, adding different layers to her skills by switching teams in the past seasons. After leaving her first professional team, DHK Banik Most, she spent two seasons in Hungary, at Erd, moved to Thuringer HC in 2020, before signing with the DELO EHF Champions League winners, Vipers Kristiansand, last summer.

“It helped me a lot develop, learning new cultures and experiencing all these different styles. Now I am happy at Vipers, being surrounded by these amazing players, who won everything in their career and I can only learn more and develop better,” added the 25-year-old Czech left back.

Spain 2021 is her fifth major international tournament and her second IHF Women’s World Championship, after Germany 2017. Four years ago, the Czech Republic was the surprise package of the competition, finishing eighth, after an all-time great comeback in the round of 16 against Romania.

She scored seven goals in that game, as the Czech Republic took the lead for the first time in the 59th minute and held on for an outstanding 28:27 win. Jerabkova was her team’s second-best scorer with 43 goals, four less than Iveta Koresova, who is not taking part in Spain 2021.

Indeed, this is the first tournament in which Jerabkova is truly a leader for the Czech Republic and she duly delivered in the first three games of the preliminary round, scoring 18 goals against Germany, Hungary and Slovakia, topping the charts with a 10-goal outing in the 29:32 loss against Hungary.

“We are still the underdogs, like we have been in the past years and this is a situation that really suits us. Hopefully, we will be able to play better in the next games and start the next phase at Spain 2021 with a win against the Republic of Korea. Playing against Denmark will surely be difficult, though, so we are doing our best to improve,” added Jerabkova.

Improvement is the key word for the Czech Republic team, who are still trying to get back to the impressive performances from decades ago. As Czechoslovakia, they won the first-ever edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship, in 1957, adding a bronze medal in 1962 and a silver in 1986.

Since former player Ondrej Zdrahala has assumed the role of the Czech Handball Federation president, plans have been put into place to improve handball as a sport and especially the performances of the national teams in the next years.

The goal is to deliver an Olympic Games berth in seven years’ time, a maiden one for the Czech side, an ambitious, but difficult objective to deliver in such a short amount of time.

“I would lie if I said I am not happy with how ambitious things are. But I also know that things are going to be difficult, because, as I previously stated, we thrive in the underdog role. Yet, I think the challenges need to be big,” concluded Jerabkova.

Until the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028, there is still a long way to go. From the team that finished 11th seven years ago at the IHF Junior Women’s World Championship, only four players – Jerabkova, left wing Veronika Mala, goalkeeper Petra Kudlackova and left back Kamila Kordovska – represent the Czech Republic at Spain 2021.

Starting the main round with zero points will surely be a tough ask for the Czech Republic team, as Jerabkova underlines the current system of the competition has changed.

“But why not aim high? That’s what I am always doing,” said the 25-year-old left back, who could be the face of the Czech Republic team, provided they achieve their ambitious objective for the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028.

Photos: RFEBM / J. Navarro