Germany 2017 is Mette Tranborgs’ first World Championship but already her second big tournament after she played the European Championship one year ago in Sweden, finishing fourth after losing the bronze medal match against a strong opponent from France. But the 21-year-old right back from Denmark knows how to win a World Championship as she won the title at the 2012 Youth World Championship in Montenegro.

 

In 2014/15 she was awarded Talent of the Year and in 2014 as well the 1,96m-tall shooter, now playing for the Danish club Odense HC, made her debut in the red-white colours against Ukraine. At the latest since the European Championship she is one of the key players in the Denmark team from coach Klavs Bruun Jørgensen, next to top stars Stine Jørgensen and Sandra Toft.

 

Germany 2017 finally started on Saturday. How did you experience the first days in Oldenburg and the first two matches?

Our first game again Montenegro wasn’t the best start to begin the World Championship. But then it was really good that we got back on track and played a very convincing match against Japan. We had a few problems in the beginning but now we found our rhythm.

 

What went wrong against Montenegro? And what did your team change against Japan?

I think Montenegro took us a little bit by surprise with their physical strength. Of course we talked about it beforehand, we knew what would come but we weren’t able to stop them and to find a good solution to deal with it. When we played our second match against Japan we were prepared. We knew that they have small players but would come with a lot of speed in attack. This time we could control their play with a good defence – which was also the key for our counter attacks and an early lead in the match.

 

You will now face Tunisia, Brazil and Russia. What are you expecting of them?

I expect tough fights. It’s important that we collect as much points as we can get to reach the knock-out round. Russia already showed their quality on court and it will be the last match of our group. It’s possible that this match will decide a lot about our position in the group. But the matches against Tunisia and Brazil are as important as the one against Russia as we have already seen that all teams are capable of beating each other.

 

You just mentioned that every team are capable of winning their matches. Did you follow the matches from the other groups?

Yes, I was a little bit surprised by some results. The Netherlands lost their match against Republic of Korea and it’s a little bit hard to predict which team will take the win. It’s all about getting to the round of 16 and then take it from there.

 

What are the goals for the Denmark team at Germany 2017?

Our goal is to reach the round of 16. And as I already mentioned it’s hard to say who we will face there. It can happen that we already have to face a very good team and it’s hard to say how the tournament will continue after this match. So we want to reach the knock-out stage and then take it match by match.

 

You are one of the players who spent most time on court. What’s your role in the team and what’s your personal goal at the World Championship?

I know that I play an important role. Klavs and I also talked about that I will spend a lot of time on court at the right back position and of course that makes me happy. I will do everything to get and to earn that much time on court because for me it’s just amazing to play for Denmark. I don’t have a specific goal here. I want to support my team with good performances and help winning the matches.