IHF: The Women´s Youth (U18) World Championship is nearly over. Are you satisfied with the tournament?

Sandi Sola: As all the other hosts of a World Championship the Macedonian Federation did their best and welcomed us with the traditional Macedonian hospitality. As far as the teams are concerned I did not hear any complaints worth mentioning. And also the organization – as far as I heard – was okay. In total, we have excellent championship, Macedonia has fulfilled the expectations and contractual obligations. Although we still have a few days ahead of us, we can say we are satisfied.

IHF: But it is a pity that only few spectators watched the matches…

Sola: Especially in the female tournaments we have fewer spectators than for example, in a Men’s Junior (U21) World Championship. Maybe it is because of the stronger physics of men and of the higher attraction of those matches. And in general there is more interest in the men´s tournaments than in the women´s. This is the first problem. The second problem is that the tournaments of the younger age categories are always taking place in the middle of the summer vacations. Unfortunately, there is no place in the calendar to date them elsewhere. Maybe if we could find a solution to play outside it would be an interesting aspect. But the lack of spectators is a general problem for many sports in young age categories. Even football has these problems concerning their junior and youth competitions. But all these kinds of tournament are more designed for the players and their development than for the spectators.

IHF: What about the quality of the matches?

Sola: That depends from team to team and from generation to generation. Some teams have improved during this championship, others, which have been traditionally strong, are not strong any more. And Brazil and Montenegro are really strong in this tournament.

IHF: Did these teams impress you the most?

Sola: Up till now I have not seen all the teams. And you have to see them in order to judge, because we see this generation of players for the first time.  On the Women’s Junior (U20) WCh in Croatia, Korea really impressed me. They have shown a kind of speed handball that is really impressive. I hope they will not decrease in the end of this tournament because they have lost too much power. Up to now they are showing the same constant level – even in tactics – from the beginning to the end. Korea already won the Women´s Junior (U20) World Championship. I am happy to see this progress and I hope they will keep the level in the future.  On this tournament, I can say that all the teams that reached the quarter-finals have deserved it.  At this point, I wouldn´t like to point out any favorites, since the tournament is still in progress.

IHF: And Brazil seems to be another upcoming nation. The women´s senior team won the World Championship in Serbia last December.

Sola: This did not happen by coincidence. This is a proof for the good work in the federation that has not only started yesterday. But there are some other rising nations. In Pan-America we have the men´s team from Argentina. We have teams in the Middle East and in Northern Africa. They are competing with the traditionally strong teams from Europe. I think gradually we are expanding and becoming a global sport. Not yet on a level we are able to be happy about, but I am sure, with some time, all of these teams – along with some others – will rise for sure.

IHF: In Macedonia we have six referee couples who never have been at a World Championship before. Did they all do a good job?

Sola: Manfred Prause is the chief of the referees and I would rather leave this part of the job for him and his colleagues from the PRC. This is part of the sport where always the winners are happy and losers have the right to be angry. As we all know we need new and younger referees as well as we need young players. This is part of the future of handball. At some points of life each one of us has done something for the first time. And this is also the case with the six couples here in Macedonia. I don´t see something bad in it. I have seen that some of the new couples are really good. I do not want to name them now, but obviously we are good in– let me put it like this – preparing new material.  And to be direct with the answer, the result of that decision is now already evident; we had no bad remarks on the level of the referees’ performance.

IHF: And who will win this tournament?

Sola: This question is tricky for me and I must apologies for not answering. I have my favorites, but of course I do not name them now, because I don ´t want to create any expectations or any kind of pressure. They all need to play from match to match.