Norway’s Maren Aardahl and Ingvild Bakkerud are ready.

On the eve of the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship which is being held in Norway, Denmark and Sweden, the Norwegian pair are preparing to open their campaign on home soil in Stavanger on Wednesday when the co-hosts take on Greenland in their opening Preliminary Group C match.

“It’s going to be really, really fun. It’s really big to be able to play a championship on our home court,” said left back Bakkerud to ihf.info.

“That might make us a little bit more nervous and, for me, it's the second time I'm going to play a championship, so I'm a little bit nervous from the start. But I'm also feeling good, excited and looking forward to getting started.

“We'll just have to see how it goes, but the dream is medals.”

A test on the world stage

Norway open their campaign against Greenland, the North America and the Caribbean champions, with the game providing an opportunity to experience the variety of skills on show at the global event.

“They're probably playing in a little bit different way than we are here in Norway and that's what's fun about world championships – we're playing against a lot of teams from different parts of the world. All the teams play differently, so it's nice to be able to compare how we’re playing handball to how they're playing handball,” explained Bakkerud, who plays her club handball for Ikast Håndbold in Denmark.

“I know a little bit about Greenland because their trainer (Anders Friis) was our assistant coach at my club, but some of their players have injuries, so, maybe they are not as good as they could be. We'll have to see what they're coming with tomorrow – either way, it's going to be a fun and good game.”

And Bakkerud’s national teammate Aardahl is also looking forward to being tested in Norway.

“It's always interesting and you get challenged on your own technique, especially in defence, because they're bringing something different to the game and they have a different rhythm and way of thinking (about) handball,” said 29-year-old Aardahl.

“They play very differently but that's because they're not playing on the same level as we are. We have only Champions League players and they don't have any, so it's going to be a difference in quality.

“But it's also hard – especially thinking about Greenland – when the level is maybe a little lower. In a sense, we have everything to lose, so that makes it even more important for us to stay focused on us. It's really a big thing. It can be hard to keep your focus up, but that's a good learning moment for us; to keep our focus.

“I expect that we are going to bring high pace into the game and really focus on ourselves and build our game, especially when we come to Trondheim (main round) where the level of our opponents will be even greater.”

A home at home

Should Norway make it to the main round, Stavanger will be swapped for Trondheim and for Aardahl, it will be extra-special – it is where she was born.

“Trondheim is my home city [but] I've never played there with the national team,” said the player, who started her club career with the Trondheim-based Byåsen Håndball Elite in 2012.

“It's a huge dream of mine [to play there with Norway]. Since we've known that it's (2023 IHF Women’s World Championship) going to be in Trondheim, it's been a massive goal for me.

“I really get goosebumps talking about it because it's a hall I’ve spent so many hours in and I know so many people in the handball community in Trondheim. I have (had) a vision of seeing myself walk out on this court for over a year now, it’s just going to be so great.”

With her own personal link to Trondheim, it has meant that Aardahl has also been busy off of court, arranging for her family and friends to attend in person.

“I got a lot of tickets for them,” says Aardahl with a laugh about ensuring access for her friends. “I think they're definitely proud of me. Sometimes it’s a little weird to think about, but they always say that they are proud of me. I just hope to see a lot of my friends there, it’s going to be special.”

Roomies with a sandy background

Both Bakkerud and Aardahl have a background playing beach handball, but their relationship is even closer – stretching back to the junior (indoor) national team.

After Bakkerud made her national team debut in August 2008 for the youth team, Aardahl joined her in the junior team for her own national team debut, against the Czech Republic (now Czechia) in April 2014.

During those days they were roommates and now, they find themselves in that role again.

“Every year we choose our own roommates, but, actually, this time around, it was a little random,” explains Aardahl.

“We were paired up, but that actually worked out great for both of us because we are the same age and know each other a lot. We played for the junior team together, both play in Denmark and see each other a lot – we have a good relationship.”

“Maybe me and Maren will talk about it in our room,” said Bakkerud about her beach handball experience, when she played for Skrim.

“It's been it's been a long time since I've played real beach handball, but it was a lovely time. Beach handball is a really fun sport, but I'm also happy that I've taken the steps to become better in (indoor) handball.”

Improving through coaching

To get to the main round in Trondheim, Norway first have to navigate Greenland, Austria and Republic of Korea in their preliminary group.

Despite the world and European title-holders fielding a team of global superstars who have won everything available, they still have to be guided and leading the direction is the legendary Thorir Hergeirsson.

“First and foremost, he’s a great leader” says Aardhal about the 59-year-old Icelandic coach. “He’s really thorough. The way he always grounds us, we're really starting from scratch every time. That's the big success factor in our team [and] that's what I've been learning the most from him: to be focused on the here and now.”

On their way to gold at 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship in Spain, ihf.info spoke to the influential Norway captain Stine Oftedal, who told us that the key to Norway’s ongoing success was “collective confidence”.

And this is something which continues to run throughout the team as they look for back-to-back world championship gold for the first time.

“She is spot on when she says that,” says Bakkerud about that phrase from Oftedal. “We need everybody in the team and the team needs to perform as a total.

“Thorir is steering the team really well – he has a lot of humour, is a good man and has good values. He's been helping me with a lot of stuff, as well as Tonje (Larsen – assistant coach, Norway) and the coaches at my club.

“They're always coming with some small adjustments to be better. I've been better in shooting, in my defensive play. I try to listen to them and do what I can in my training to be even better.”

And ‘better’ is something that line player Aardahl is constantly striving to be despite winning gold in both her senior championships so far.

“I'm really proud of my record in the national team, although it's only my third championship. But two golds – I can be really proud of that,” said Aardahl about topping the podium at the 2021 World Championship and 2022 European Championship.

“But I am always trying to improve my game. I want to be an even bigger character in the defence, also vocally, and helping the players around me.

“This season, I have really improved my game in offence. You can see in my scoring percentages that they have been so much better this season. Attack is my main focus because I really want to show and prove to others that I can not only be in defence. I can play in both ways.

“Being in Denmark and being in the Champions League [means] there are so many stats, so it's easy to see that my scoring percentage was not where I wanted it to be last season.

“It was a huge goal for me to improve that with my technique and with a new coach at my club (Ole Gustav Gjekstad) he really set time aside for us to train individually. I was able to put more minutes into that and I think you can really see that in my game now.”