Country: Croatia

Coach: Iva Kanjugovic

Key Players: Ana Malec (Specialist), Lara Miholic (Right Wing), Nika Vojnovic (Line Player), Anja Vida Luksic (Left Wing)

Qualification for Mauritius 2017: European Qualification (Nazare, POR) – 6th

Overview:

“The Olympic Games are something that every athlete dreams of, so it would be an honour to be a part of them, especially for our young players. Beach handball will have its debut at the Youth Olympic Games in 2018 and if we qualify, we would be writing history,” states Croatia coach Iva Kanjugovic.

Croatia were sixth at the 2016 European Championship in Nazare, Portugal from 8-10 July. In the preliminary round, they lost to Portugal (2:0) and Ukraine (2:1) and finally recovered with a 2:0 win over Romania. After losing 2:0 versus Norway in the quarter-finals, they beat Italy 2:0 and ended the tournament with a 2:0 loss in front of Hungary.

Specialist Ana Malec was Croatia’s top scorer in Nazare with 21 goals, followed by line player Nika Vojnovic who scored 19. For trainer Kanjugovic, “it is very hard to point out our key players. I would say that in Portugal we had Malec and Miholic (right wing). Two players who are slowly taking their places are Vojnovic and Luksic (left wing).”

“Our strongest spots are the team spirit and togetherness our girls have. They are all good friends; they support each other and can trust each other. It is important how they rise from bad to good moments, from match to match.”

The Mauritius U17 Beach Handball World Championship draw concluded that Croatia will compete in Group A against Hungary and two Pan American teams: the continent champions Argentina and Paraguay. “We don’t know much about Argentina and Paraguay, but I believe we have an advantage against them. The match against Hungary will be a tough one. Last year in Portugal we lost against them in the match for the 5th place, but it was a narrow win for the Hungarian side. In my opinion we have a chance.”

To get ready for Mauritius 2017 — where they need to be one of top three European teams in order to book a spot for the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games —, Croatia will play two friendly tournaments at home: the Zapresic and the Ivanic Opens.

MRI 2017 (women’s) – Group A: Argentina, Hungary, Paraguay and Croatia.

You can follow the women’s Croatia team campaign on their official channels: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube

IHF Website & Social Media:

For a complete coverage of the 2017 IHF U17 Men’s Beach Handball World Championship stay tuned to our website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels.