Budic: “Teams from Croatia always have high expectations”

The beach season is slowly coming to its end with 29 teams competing for the medals at the Beach Champions Cup 2019 in Catania, Italy, this week.

Men’s and women’s domestic champions from across Europe hit the sand courts in the sixth edition of the event, and among the 15 teams playing in the men’s competition are Detono Zagreb from Croatia, last year’s champions.

Zagreb have an excellent track record in the competition, having finished second (in 2014), fourth (2015) and eighth (2016) before lifting the trophy a year ago, beating Ekaterinodar in the final, with right wing Mateo Budic scoring eight points.

Young Budic was also the tournament’s best scorer for the Croatian team with 60 points in total.

"Beach handball is great for meeting new people"

“I started to play beach handball after a few friends gave me that idea,” Budic says. “They told me it’s a great way to maintain my fitness during the off-season of indoor handball. Other than that, beach handball is great for meeting new people who become your friends.”

After joining Detono, Budic soon became a call from the head coach of the national junior beach handball team and he gained even more experience on international level.

“The next step was playing for the senior national team, which is amazing,” Budic says.

In the spotlights in Croatia

Beach handball in Croatia has been in the spotlight for several years now. The numerous medals won by club and national teams are drawing many young players to this sport, which is developing fast.

Budic is convinced that beach handball has a dazzling future and he looks forward to what is coming.

“Beach handball grows from year to year. It has a bright future and more and more players want to join us on the sand,” he says. “It’s not only the situation in Croatia but also in the rest of the world. A good example were the Summer Youth Olympics in 2018 where beach handball was the most visited event.”

On a global scale, tournaments are becoming bigger and are better organised, with spectators visiting.

“What is good at beach handball is that non-European teams can compete with European ones,” Budic says. “Each match is interesting and attractive with spin shots, golden goals or having a specialist in the team.”

Aiming for another trophy

Detono Zagreb are the 12-time champions of Croatia. Under the guidance of Mladen Paradzik they are aiming for another trophy this week.

They are aware it will not be easy, with 16 teams from 14 different countries taking part. The defending champions’ first obstacles are GRD Leca-SPAR from Portugal, Hiekka Hauskaa from Netherlands and Chelsea HC Great Britain in group A.

“We won the Champions Cup last year, which was an excellent way to end a season,” Budic says. “We expect to do the same this year, too. Teams from Croatia always have high expectations, both for the national team and in club competitions. There is no difference in BHC Zagreb. We will do our best to raise that trophy again.”

Matches from courts 1 and 2 will be streamed live on ehfTV throughout the week, with games from these courts also available on demand later in the day.

The EHF will be covering the tournament across social media, with live updates and stories on the EHF Beach Handball Instagram account, photographs and stories on the Facebook page and a variety of top action clips on the official YouTube channel.