Illustrative image. (source: Fotolia)
At the start of the European Women’s Under-17 Handball Championship held in Montenegro, Slovakia’s team was regarded as an outsider. By the end of Sunday’s final, however, they were crowned champions, reports Sportnet.
In the decisive match, the Slovak girls claimed their first-ever gold medal in any women’s competition, defeating Croatia 34–30 (18–17 at half-time). It is the first handball medal of any kind for Slovakia at a major tournament in its 32-year history as an independent nation, across all categories. Before this victory, no Slovak handball team had ever even reached the semi-finals.
Surpassing modest ambition
Slovak women’s handball has long been absent from Europe’s top ranks and has not achieved any notable results at youth level.
What makes the triumph even more remarkable is that the team had to qualify for the tournament. Their original aim was modest: to finish at least 12th and thereby secure automatic entry to the Under-18 World Championship. They far surpassed that ambition.
“These are indescribable feelings. We are all delighted to have done it, because it was a very difficult journey in which we had to prove our moral qualities, our mental strength and our psychological resilience. The greatest weapon of this team was the team itself – no one sought personal glory and all the players pulled together,” said coach Pavol Streicher.
One player, however, did shine particularly brightly. Mária Bartková delivered a superb performance in the final, scoring an extraordinary 14 goals from 16 attempts – an 88 per cent success rate.
Hope for a new chapter
The Slovaks also collected individual honours. Liliana Gogová was named Best Defender, while Mária Bartková was selected for the All-Star Team as Best Left Winger. Bartková comes from a handball family – her mother was a leading player for both club and country.
Since Slovakia’s independence, the women’s senior team has appeared in four major tournaments, with a best finish of 12th place. This youth team’s success raises hopes that a positive new chapter for Slovak women’s handball may be about to begin.
