We're moving on with presenting Jarun Cup 2018 participants! We stay with previous category - men's seniors but this time we have a puzzle for you - if HEI Beachhandball from Denmark are the same guys that won silver medal last year or not? You'll find the answer in our interview with HEI's team leader Martin Vilstrup :)
For the warm up, please introduce your team - are you playing together only beach handball or indoor as well? What are your achievements so far?
We're HEI Beachhandball, which is a Danish team with great traditions regarding beach handball. We've been playing this amazing sport since the beginng of 2009 in Denmark. We're a group of dedicated players, who love to play beach handball because of the atmosphere on and outside the court :-)
In 2016 we won the national championship in Denmark and qualified for the Champions Cup on Gran Canaria - where we came 6. Last year we lost the final at our national championship, which means we won silver medal. We've also came 2nd (2010 and 2011) and 3rd (2014) a couple of times, but we prefer to be at the top, and come number 1 ;-)
Our biggest international achivement is winning the EBT tournament at Nordsee Bad Dangast in 2013.
But the level of beach handball in Denmark, is in a really good development. More people are playing it, and the level gets higher every year.
We also participated at Jarun Cup last year, with a team we collected just for that tournament (Hshop Denmark), where we came 2nd, which we're really proud of.
We also have 5 national players on our team, which shows that our dedication to the sport pays off - not only when it comes to wanting it, but doing the right thing for it. Which, in our opinion, starts with wanting to train, and being willing to develp your individual skills. Futhermore to fit in a team, and be able to understand the tactics in the game.
In Denmark the wheater dosn't always indicate that you're able to play beach handball, but we're trying as much as we can to train. Right now there is still snow in Denmark, which makes it hard to train.
What was the reason to take part in Jarun Cup 2018 and what do you expect from this year's edition?
Well, first of all we participated last year with great succes - I'm talking here about the organizers that did a really good job helping us with the transport, the accommodation and just in general much needed informations. Beside that we came 2nd, which we're really proud of, we had a blast. Jarun Cup is a competition with a high level of teams in both men's and women's categories, and the facilities are good as well. Jarun Cup have our biggest recommendation to others, that are thinking about this tournament.
We expect we'll have a great tournament, with a lot of good beach handball - tight matches, a high level beach handball and just getting to meet a bunch of nice people. Futhermore Jarun Cup is upgrading this year, with TV broadcast - last year the final got broadcastet and was commentated by your big star and main man - Mladen Paradzik.
The EBT points that you can collect at the tournament is high (even higher than last year), because the organizers make sure everything is as it should be. Great teams, some of the best referees in the world, social events such as a night with cosy times and a barbecue for the teams, and last but not least a lot of helpfull, sweet and service minded volunteers. So all in all, we're really looking forward to play this tournament once again!
What are your plans for this season and what is your main goal in 2018?
We have planned a lot for this season. First of all your tournament. Futhermore, we're trying to make it to one or two other EBT tournaments. But it's not that easy with a team where some are studying, some are indoor pro's and others that have families. But we're trying our best, because we love the sport, and we wanna play international tournaments.
When speaking about internal, Danish part we try to participate in as many tournaments as possible. The more tournaments you parcipate in, the more points you collect, and that will in the end give a potential advantage at the national Championships. There are 6 qualification events, and 10 teams with the biggest number of points get to play the final event, and compete for the naional championship - so we're hoping to reach the final for the 3rd year in a row. We know it's gonna be tough, but we will fight with our hearts, and do our best to get there :-)