ebt Finals throw off in Budaörs

The European beach handball season opens with a bang when the 2015 European Beach Handball Tour (ebt) Finals throw off in Budaörs, Hungary this Friday.

20 teams participate in the tournament - 10 women's, including defending champions OVB - Beach Girls, and 10 men's, including champions Detono Zagreb - playing group matches and placement matches and the finals.

The first matches will throw off on Friday, 22 May at 12:45 hrs local time and the following two days will be jam-packed with beach handball action.

The finals will be played on Sunday, 24 May at 18:00 hrs for the men's and at 17:00 hrs for the women's.

All matches can be followed with the EHF's live ticker and all main court matches will be streamed live via the official website: http://www.ebtfinal2015.hu/en/live_stream

"The ebt Finals are a very strong competition where nobody knows who can win. It is the start of the season and every team is in different condition.

"Naturally there are favourites – from Spain, Greece and Hungary – but mostly the teams depend heavily on physical and mental preparation, which can vary during this period," says Judit Jonas, one of the founders of the OVB - Beach Girls.

For Detono Zagreb in the men's event the goals are set out clearly: "We want to win again, but it will be very tough. All teams try desperately to win against the reigning champions.

"(But) We know our strengths. These guys have played together for a long time. Detono is not a team, it is the team!" says coach Igor Pozeg.

For more information also head to the official website http://www.ebtfinal2015.hu/

Taking up more space

Media interest was high during a press conference on Wednesday at which Ole Jorstad, chairman of the EHF's Beach Handball Commission, was also interviewed.

"We are a young sport in Europe and in many countries, but we are developing rather fast. There are more and more events, we have the Champions Cup for clubs as well as the European Championships for the national teams," said Jorstad.

"And we are working on some more projects so we can continue to increase the number of teams and players involved in beach handball. We are taking up more space on the European handball map and I think the future looks rather bright for us."

The ebt Finals in Budaörs were preceded by an education course for beach handball referees and delegates.