The Croatia men’s senior beach handball team took home the title at the World Championships in Heraklion on Sunday!
In the final match, Croatia was better than Denmark 2-0 (24-22, 21-18) in sets and thus secured their third world title and the 30th medal for Croatia beach handball.
After six days of competition and nine wins in nine games, Lucian Bura was named the best right-winger and the best scorer of the championship.
This year’s World Championships final was a replay of last year’s final at the European Championships, but this time with a happy ending and Croatia’s victory.
Denmark tried to catch up and get closer to Croatia to bring the game to a penalty shootout, but they could not threaten the extremely collected Croatia throughout the tournament.
“The final match, the only match in which you have nothing to lose, and you can only win. Against Denmark, it was exactly as we imagined, challenging and on one ball.
This time it turned out that we reacted excellently. They respected our agreements, and we responded skillfully defensively, especially Valentino and Jurić, who agreed and made it easier for our goalkeeper in the defense.
This is our third title, something we always strive for. I always have the feeling that gold is coming home, and we had that feeling throughout the tournament. And all credit to the boys for a great game,” pointed out Croatia’s coach Mladen Paradžik.
“A tough match, a match decided by details, literally small misses. In the first set, we missed a lot – maybe two, three shots, maybe one more for them, and we played maybe a better defense, which brought us victory.
We were both nervous in the second set, and it was clear that it was the final, but the last couple of defenses were great; Domi picked up something and, in the end, I think, a well-deserved victory.
Of course, it is a great success, especially after the junior national team also won the title a few weeks ago. An excellent three weeks in Greece for Croatia handball,” commented Nikola Finek, a Croatia national team member who recorded an outstanding performance at the World Championships.
Croatia’s new world champions in beach handball:
1. BORNA KOLIĆ
2. DOMINIK MARKOVIC
3. VALENTINO VALENTAKOVIC
4. IVAN JURIĆ
5. JOSIP LEKO
6. LUCIAN BURA
7. IVAN DUMENČIĆ
8. JOSIP DUKES
9. NIKOLA FINEK
10. FILIP GORIČANEC
Congratulations to the players and coaching staff on this exceptional achievement!
Source: HRS
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