Nilsson visits the beach

Hungary’s elite beach handball teams have been battling it out throughout the summer to reach the final event, organised in Balatonfüred.

The teams played in two groups at first, with the best eight men’s and eight women’s teams progressing to the knock-out rounds.

After some exciting and spectacular moments in the fight for the medals, the women’s winner was OVB Beach Girls and Dabas Beach Boyz won the gold in the men’s series.  

There were a number of famous and successful former-players visiting the tournament, including former Veszprém star József Éles and Krisztina Pigniczki, ex-member of the Hungarian women’s national team, who supported from the tribune.

Pigniczki has won a number of international medals with Hungary, including a World Championship bronze in 2003 at home in Budapest. The playmaker knows what it means to play a championship at home and what the current squad can expect at the Women’s EHF EURO 2014.

One of her teammates back in 2003 was Anita Görbicz, who will relive this experience 11 years later, with the best 16 teams in Europe gathering in Hungary and Croatia this December.

There were also some new faces on the Hungarian handball scene at the beach. MKB-MVM Veszprém’s summer signing Andreas Nilsson took an interest in the event and presented medals to the champions, bringing an end to a memorable day at Balatonfüred. 

Photo credit: MKSZ / Péter Cseh