2018 beach handball world championships: Kazan to welcome stars
The capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan hosts the Men’s and Women’s Beach Handball World Championships on July 24 – 29, the world’s best players participating. The most decorated handball players will come to Kazan for the gold of the World Championships.
16 men’s and 16 women’s teams are nominated to take part in the tournament. They are divided into four groups. Team Croatia and Team Brazil are the most experienced men’s squads. By the way, the representatives of the Croatian beach handball earned the title of the world champion two years ago. Both teams have always been qualified for world championships since the very first competition in 2004. The men’s teams from Vietnam, New Zealand and Sweden will compete in the tournament for the first time ever, so it will be very curious to watch the historic performance of all the three sides. Ivan Juric, the leader of the Croatian powerhouse, will help his teammates to defend the world title. He became not only the most valuable player of the previous World Championships, but earned the title of the best left-wing player of the tournament. Also, pay attention to Bruno Oliveira and Gil Pires of Brazil, who have played in the final games of six world championships. Oliveira and Pires are record-holders in this respect. Brazilian handball players regularly appear on the tournament’s dream team, so a bright performance is expected here in Kazan, too.
Only one women’s team out of 16 has never failed qualification for a world championship in its history – Team Brazil. Its players are trendsetters of the world’s beach handball. Despite their class, the Brazilians lost to Spain with the score 2 – 1 in the final game of the last World Championships. For the first time in the history women’s teams from Greece, France, Paraguay, USA and Mexico will come onto pitch of these competitions. Camila Souza from Brazil will almost likely become the major star of the women’s event of the upcoming tournament. The MVP award went to her in the two previous World Championships in succession. Such top Brazilian players as Jerusa Dias, Patricia Scheppa and Milena Braga can possibly come to Kazan, too. In their careers they have played in three final games of the world championships. No one questions the Brazilians’ quality of play. They will probably desire to bounce back for the two-year-old defeat in Budapest and win back the world crown.