Women's Handball IHF Olympic Qualification Tournaments 2024

[Cinnamon Bun 902]

  On 4/11/2024 at 10:30 AM, OlympicsFan said:

Don’t know anything about the procedure, but it is safe to say that Romania would have been more competitive and probably would have „deserved“ it more. GB starting to care about handball (volleyball, basketball) would be good for the sport, but it doesn’t seem to be GB‘s strategy to focus on team sports. France on the other hand seems to care a lot more about team sports. I guess for GB it is enough to be (somewhat) competitive in football and rugby.

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Handball's one of those sports where it should be successful over here as it's a solid blend of football and a little bit of rugby. And I think if they can get more people playing it at school and university level and get some sort of competitive league over here similar to the BBL then I believe we have a chance to make ourselves successful in this over the next couple decades. 

[Olympicsnell 300]

Can i post links to games here, its not an illegal stream and its broadcast on Youtube, so i'm gonna give it a crack and risk a telling off later

[heywoodu 15,332]

  On 4/11/2024 at 11:33 AM, Cinnamon Bun said:

Handball's one of those sports where it should be successful over here as it's a solid blend of football and a little bit of rugby.

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To be fair, that's a little like saying the Netherlands should be great at ice hockey because it's the best country in the world both in skating and hockey  

[heywoodu 15,332]

  On 4/11/2024 at 1:29 PM, Olympicsnell said:

Can i post links to games here, its not an illegal stream and its broadcast on Youtube, so i'm gonna give it a crack and risk a telling off later

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I'd say posting official streams of any event should be highly encouraged  

[mpjmcevoy 362]

  On 4/11/2024 at 11:33 AM, Cinnamon Bun said:

Handball's one of those sports where it should be successful over here as it's a solid blend of football and a little bit of rugby. And I think if they can get more people playing it at school and university level and get some sort of competitive league over here similar to the BBL then I believe we have a chance to make ourselves successful in this over the next couple decades. 

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GBR is notable for loving a bit of variety in its sport - no nation - not even the US and China - got golds in as many different sports as GBR at the last Olympics - they LOVE a bit of niche up Albion way! That said, you need, as Basketball has found, a certain tipping point weight to get your team sports to the next level. Women's basketball, amazingly, is not that far away, but men's is miles off despite big playing numbers, so handball will struggle - not least because what tends to happen is that team sport niches fill up with other sports - e.g. how many potential athletics throwers never try because they are quickly spotted as perfect rugby fodder, and in England in particular (and Ireland) rugby has a higher youth sport profile.

[mpjmcevoy 362]

  On 4/11/2024 at 1:46 PM, heywoodu said:

To be fair, that's a little like saying the Netherlands should be great at ice hockey because it's the best country in the world both in skating and hockey  

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You SHOULD be great at ice hockey, but yer all too tall, and they stick all the ice lovers on massive racing tracks at the age of six months. Wheras with Scots, they just give them granite and tell them "it's basically bowls", in Germany they put you in a tin can and push you down it, and in Russia they take all the girls out of ballet school and see which one's react best to the drugs and twizzle on it...

[Cinnamon Bun 902]

  On 4/11/2024 at 1:46 PM, heywoodu said:

To be fair, that's a little like saying the Netherlands should be great at ice hockey because it's the best country in the world both in skating and hockey  

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Not really, as hockey, ice hockey and skating are more different compared to football, rugby and handball. I was more coming at from a youth development perspective, as the stark similarities with rugby and football should make handball more appealing to kids at a young age. 

[Cinnamon Bun 902]

  On 4/11/2024 at 1:47 PM, mpjmcevoy said:

GBR is notable for loving a bit of variety in its sport - no nation - not even the US and China - got golds in as many different sports as GBR at the last Olympics - they LOVE a bit of niche up Albion way! That said, you need, as Basketball has found, a certain tipping point weight to get your team sports to the next level. Women's basketball, amazingly, is not that far away, but men's is miles off despite big playing numbers, so handball will struggle - not least because what tends to happen is that team sport niches fill up with other sports - e.g. how many potential athletics throwers never try because they are quickly spotted as perfect rugby fodder, and in England in particular (and Ireland) rugby has a higher youth sport profile.

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That's very true, but I believe the likes of basketball and handball can capitalise on the recent downfall of rugby, particularly rugby league, in the UK and Ireland. The less opportunities there are for young players to enter rugby, the easier it will be for basketball and handball to pick up talented, athletic throwers which should help get the ball rolling and enable us to qualify for more continental and global tournaments. 

[gucardn 64]

My Prediction:

 

OQT 1

 

OQT 2

 
 

OQT 3

 

 

[Cinnamon Bun 902]

Easy win for Hungary as expected, but I felt we gave a decent account of ourselves. A lot of work needs doing though, as we missed quite a few clear cut chances due to our throws being too weak.