By Melina
I sincerely hope you got to catch a glimpse of our National Team during the European championship in October! After a long summer of preparations, it was time to showcase in Europe what Swiss Korfball is made of.
We kicked off the tournament with a challenging and very physical game against Turkey. And although we started really strong, leading on the scoreboard, Turkey caught up quickly and took over. The Swiss team gave one of its best performances during the rest of the game but ended up staying behind in the score by 13-8.
Despite the loss, we gathered some great learnings and with still a long way to go in the tournament, we were only more determined to get better. Which we did in our next game against Scotland, getting our first win with an impressive 19-13.
Our third and final game in the group phase, against Slovakia, was really critical, as it would determine the teams that make it to the semi-finals. The Slovakian team started by leading the score but then Switzerland made an incredible comeback and started challenging them for the win. However, Slovakia picked up the pace once more and despite the Swiss team giving a very fair fight, and after some bad luck with our penalty shots, we ended up losing the game 21-15.
Although a disappointing result, the tournament was not over. We still had 5th place to compete for, as the top 5 teams of the tournament have a direct entry to the next European Championship in 2026 in the Czech Republic. So after a day of rest, we faced off Ireland, in a game that we expected would be an easy win for us. We started by building a very comfortable lead, which seemed to be a bit of a curse, as our players started playing a bit on eco mode, and in the second half we let the Irish team challenge us on the scoreboard. But as the game was approaching its end the Swiss team kept its composure and finished with a win of 11-9. Which brings us to the last game of the tournament against Serbia.
Serbia was a very physical opponent, with strong basketball influences in its play style, while the exhaustion from the tournament was also something we had to factor in at this point. From the beginning of the game the Swiss team appeared superior from a technical perspective, nevertheless Serbia remained consistently dangerously close in the score, keeping all viewers on the edge of their seats until the very end. Thankfully, and after multiple heart attacks for the poor audience, this incredible derby finished with a happy ending for the Swiss Team, winning 12-11 and conquering the 5th place in the tournament!
Overall, this tournament showcased the impressive progress that the National Team has made in the past couple of years, raising Swiss Korfball to a level that was never before conceived possible. Thanks again to our players, Casper and organizers for bringing us such pride and joy! You were all amazing and we can’t wait to see what’s ahead for you!
Of course, let’s also not forget Romain and Julien making history in the scoring boards, placing 3rd and 4th place across the entire tournament. And although they may not have gotten the top two spots, they did get quite the fan club during the course of the tournament…
And yes guys, I am an excellent journalist, so you are lucky to be getting all kinds of coverage 😉
Finally, I would like to send a big thanks to all the viewers as well, who kept showing their unstoppable support throughout the tournament and reminded us of the incredible comradeship that is characteristic of Swiss Korfball! Hopp Schwiiz!!!
