News archive 2 for 2001, the Danish national team in women's handball

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News archive, Ultimo 2001:

December 2001

World Championship 2001 in Italy

Bronze Match: Denmark - Yugoslavia: 40-42 (extra time).
Ordinary time: 34-34 (17-14)

Denmark: Mette Vestergaard 16 (6), Kristine Andersen 8 (2), Line Daugaard 6, Lotte Kiærskou 6 (2), Louise Pedersen 3, Mette Melgaard 1

Even though the goal first set by Pytlick (to become among the first six teams) had been fulfillled, it was none the less a great disappointment once again to be knocked dead by the revival of East European players the volume of concrete towerblocks. The Scandinavian style with smaller, more agile and technically refined players doing great spectator friendly shows unfortunately can't match the boring physical and slow grinding machine of old times. We actually lead at first with 24-17 which soon turned to equal position and overtime. By then the playes seemed to tired to think and the defense broke down completely while the attack, maybe for the first time in this tournament, worked well. Mette Vestergaard fought a heroic fight with 16 goals, but the captain could not win by herself. The question remains, why on earth coach Pytlick chose to use the same tired players througout the match, when equally good players waited on the bench... a fatal decision.

Denmark - Russia: 20-26 (12-11)

Denmark: Mette Vestergaard 5 (1), Christina Roslyng 3, Josephine Touray 3, Lotte Kiærskou 3 (2), Kristina Andersen 2, Katrine Fruelund 2, Pernille Hansen 1, Mette Melgaard 1
Russia: Elena Tchaoussova 10 (3), Inna Poltoratskaia 4, Tariana Diadetchoko 4, Ludmilla Bodnieva 3, Natalia Gontcharova 2, Oxana Romenskaya 1, Anna Ignattchenko 1, Raisa Verakso 1

The revival of East European playing styles (and the size of their concrete block women) once again collided with the Scandinavian style of technique and smaller, fast players. A brilliant first half, but then things slowly fell apart, in spite of hard work from eg. Rantala and Vestergaard (at first we were in the lead 6-1 and all seemed easy). As the fatique crept up on the players, the errors increased and it shows that many of the young Danish players still ned more experience. Tjaussova from Russia made 10 goals and will be an important player to keep an eye on. Vestergaard 5, Hansen 1, Touray 3, Roslyng 3, Meelgaard 1, Kristine Andersen 2, Kiærskou 3, Fruelund 2

Denmark - Austria: 27-26 (15-15)

Denmark: Lotte Kiærskou 6, Kristine Andersen 6 (1), Mette Melgaard 4, Mette Vestergaard 4 (1), Katrine Fruelund 2, LineDaugaard 2, Pernille Hansen 2, Christina Roslyng 1
Austria : Ausra Fridrikas 14 (6), Barbara Strass 3, Rima Engl 3, Stefanie Offenböck 3, Laura Fritz 1, Sorina Teodorovic 1, Sylvia Strass

Finally a "real" World Championship match between two good teams (and a hall with more than a handfull of spectators, for a change). A Danish team meeting Austria, which in many ways is a special team and also only the second qualified opponent, that Denmark has met in this weak tournament. First of all, Austria has always been a strange kind of "foreign legion" with dubious behaviours. Now the trainer is also a former Danish national team trainer called Eliasen (whom Anja Andersen will remember with dread, as he was the one throwing her off the team). Furthermore Austria is more of a one-woman army, featuring Austra Fridrikas and a bunch of more anonymous players supporting this heavy catapult of a woman. The match was a roller coaster tour of up and down periods, starting badly for the Danes, who were being shot to pieces by Fridrikas in spite of Rantala's great efforts. Lotte and Kristine in particular fought back the best they could and only in the second half, the Danes got in the lead with 20 - 16. With 3 minutes to go it was 27-23, but then things started to slip for some reason, balls thrown way over the goal, two Danish players expelled and the Austrians almost catching up with great speed. Lotte, Kris and Rantala pushed the final victory through. Pytlick is now a happy man, having passed his previous goals of becoming among the six first teams - so now the aim has been changed to gold. My guess is that we will most likely get bronze and Norway gold, but who knows. Next opponent is Russia - not a team that the Danes have much experience with, but according to Janne Kolling, their style should suit the Danish one well.

Denmark - Angola: 30 - 18 (16 - 8)

Line Daugaard 3, Mette Vestergaard 4, Touray 7, Kristine Andersen 4, Lotte Kiærskou 5, Mette Meelgård 2, Roslyng 2, Fruelund 2, Pernille Hansen 1.
It would have been just too bad if we should have lost to this strange African team. Ranta did a good job in the goal and the Danes were quickly in the lead with 5-1 after seven minutes. Only once did it get interesting with 5-5, where the situation then turned more "normal" with 12-6 and 16-8 at half time. The defense did well, but there are still problems with the attack. As the Africans faced a beating, they turned to dirty tricks, as often before, but the referees did not seem to notice. Wilbek (speaker on Danish tv during the matches) was seriously worried about the risk of injuries due to that barbaric behaviour, but luckily nothing happened.

Denmark - Holland: 23 - 16 (10 - 7)

Ditte Andersen 7, Rikke Hørlykke 4, Mette Meelgaard 3, Roslyng 3, Kristine Anderen 3, Louise Pedersen 1, Fruelund 1, Touray 1.
Holland: Olga Assink 6 (3), Nicole Heuwekemeijer 3, Irina Pusic 3 (1), Diane Roelofsen 1, Diane Lamein 1, Natasja Burgers 1, Pearl Van Der Wissel 1 (1)
As both teams are sure to go on in the tournament, it was not a stressfull match, but on the other hand a very fast paced one (yet, I must admit... very boring). Most of the Dutch players know the Danes well as they play in the Danish league team GOG, but still their skills are not as high as expected. Rikke P. Schmidt did very well in the goal (53% saves) and also Ditte scored a lot. None of the teams showed much imagination, but that was not so important this time. Next opponents will be Angola and Spain.

Denmark - Ukraine: 30 - 16 (17 - 7)

Katrine Fruelund 6, Line Daugaard 6, Rikke Hørlykke 6, Lotte Kiærskou 5, Mette Vestergaard 2, Heidi Johansen 2, Louise Pedersen 1, Pernille Hansen 1, Touray 1.

A surprisingly weak Ukrainian team gave an easy victory not only of the match but also of the pool itself. This time, my personal favourite, Lene Rantala, stood well in the goal again (having a 200 match jubillee was probably too demanding last time), but the shots were not that dangerous this time either. The defense stood strong (with three defense players, there is always a fresh one to send on court) and the team work is better than with the old team full of individualists. All in all Rikke, Katrine and Line (her match no. 50) are worth praising in this match, where the weak opponent invited to many experiments.

Denmark - France: 21- 20 (10 - 10)

Vestergaard 6, Kiærskou 3, Kristine Andersen 3, Hørlykke 3, Pernille Hansen 2, Touray 2, Melgaard 1, Roslyng 1

This match was expected to be the toughest one, and a good indicator of the strength of the two favourite teams in the pool. No "blood on the dance floor" this time but a very close match between the physically strong French bull-dozers and the more technically refined Danes, who kept on fighting even when it seemed tough. In the last couple of minutes we had a secret weapon to call into the court, namely Rikke Hørlykke, who had been spared for just this, and she made the last decisive goals. The defence did it really well facing the more heavy French players. Rantala could celebrate her match no. 200 as a goalkeeper, but jubilees are not always fortunate, so after 12 minutes with no luck, Karin Mortensen was called in to do her tricks. Now the Danes are so exhilarated, that they sense a medal of some sort calling in the distance, but there is a long way to go yet.

Denmark - Macedonia: 31- 22 (14 - 11)

Christina Roslyng 6, Josephine Touray 6, Kristine Andersen 5, Mette Melgaard 4, Lotte Kiærskou 3, Rikke Hørlykke 2, Mette Vestergaard 2, Heidi Johansen 1, Ditte Andersen 1, Katrine Fruelund 1

Keywords:A first half where the Danes had problems with their attacks once again. A second half where the roles seemed to fall into place and the Macedonians were getting tired as expected. Terrible Argentinean referees, that made Pytlick's prediction/worst fears come true about the low standard of referees chosen for women's tournaments. Kristine Andersen had what could be called her true comeback on the team after slowly getting back into shape from her long break.

Denmark - China: 36 - 24 (19 - 12)

Goals for Denmark: Lotte Kiærskou 8, Line Daugaard 7, Katrine Fruelund 5, Louise Pedersen 6, Kristine Andersen 4, Hørlykke 3, Heidi Johansen 2, Pernille Hansen 1

Mette Vestergaard among others were being spared. This first match was not expected to be difficult, even though one never knows what to expect with a team of Asian players "ruled" by the former Korean trainer Hyung-Kyon (known by the Danes from eg. the Olympics in Atlanta). He also seemed to have a second "ghost-trainer" running back and forth along the (too sparsely occupied, unfortunately) spectator seats, even though that is illegal. Heidi Johansen also knows the only really dangerous Chinese player Chao Zhai from their common Danish league team Randers and could predict that she would be their leading force.

The best thing to be said about this (a bit dull) match was the fact that poor Louise Pedersen got her luck - and hopefully self-confidence - back again after a long down-period on the team. Also Hørlykke did it very well and Lotte Kiærskou proved, that she will be the major force for Denmark.

November 2001

Status of the "knee situation"

Mette Vestergaard is still having trouble with her knee when playing and problems with her pelvis as well. Both her club FIF (which depend totally on her, now that most of the other major players have fled) and the national team are worried about whom will get to exploit her playing ability the most and both demand that the other part spare her. She needs rest but no one will give it to her before the WCh. Will she be going at all? Or playing only in some of the matches? Will she be forced to play using pain killers? Pytlick has promised not to use injured players, but Mette is so important as veteran and captain of the team, that he will give her special attention.

Line Daugaard is however now free of her knee injury.

Anja dreams of additional prof league for women

Anja Andersen has new ideas that could make handball more popular to watch, develop it further and pour more money into the game. She dreams about a new additional league with 6-8 professional teams like in the NBA basketball league. The players and the best referees should have higher wages (and thus be able to spend more time on their own training) and the media machine should be oiled for top speed. And first of all, it should not be the Danish Handball Federation standing behind it, as they according to Anja would not be suitable for such a commercial arrangement, as they do not seem to have any visions on behalf of the sport any longer..

The answer from DHF is thumbs down. In the case of a "pirate league" the players will not be able to take part in European tournaments or be part of the national team, they reply.

Last tests before the WCh - Nations Cup

Denmark - Austria: 27-17 (13-9)
Lotte Kiærskou 5, Ditte Andersen 5, Roslyng 5, Fruelund 4, Hørlykke 3, Kristine Andersen 3, Heidi Johansen 1, Touray 1.

Mette Vestergaard's knee is giving her trouble again and she was spared. Hopefully it will be better when the WCh starts. The imported palm trees and silent audience echoed the feeling of an endless desert on the court, only with an small oasis awaiting in the second half. Supposedly, the players are tired and just want to get it overwith, resulting in many impatient shots and a huge amount of technical errors. Only Fruelund was still fighting.

Denmark - Norway: 23-24 (10-10)
Lotte Kiærskou 8 (2), Kathrine Fruelund 5, Christina Roslyng 3, Josephine Touray 2, Rikke Hørlykke 2, Ditte Andersen 1, Mette Vestergaard 1, Pernille Hansen 1.

Messy match with a scandalous lack of organisation by both the persons responsible for the measurement of time, score-board and by the female referee - no one actually knew when the match should finish! The play was messy as well and not worth elaborating on. Nobody really wanted to strain themselves before the "big thing" in Italy. But Grini is just deadly!

Denmark - Hungary: 22-19 (8–7)
Roslyng 4, Louise Pedersen 3, Vestergaard 3, Melgaard 3, Kristine Andersen 3, Daugaard 2, Hørlykke 2, Fruelund 2, Ditte Andersen 1

Even though we could be satisfied with another good performance by the defence (6:0 is definitely the only right choice), we have reason for concern about Line Daugaard's knee, when she was tackled. She still does not know, how bad the injury is. Even though Roslyng is there to cover the left wing, Line would be indispensable for the coming WC. Lotte did not take part in this match and Vestergaard just went in for the last five minutes for a penalty shot (knee problems as well).

E-Boks Challenge Cup

The E-Boks Challenge Cup took place between 9.-11. November in århus, Viborg and Randers. It is a four-nation tournament involving Denmark, Germany, France and Holland. See TV2 Sporten's coverage of the overall results.

Denmark - Germany: 25 -26 (16-12)
Fruelund 5, Touray 5, Kristine Andersen 4, Lotte 3, Line 2, Vestergaard 2, Pernille Hansen 3, Roslyng 1.

After a good first half, the Danes went to pieces in the second half, just as has been the tendency in the previous matches - still it is the center players who are not strong or sharp enough. Grit Jurack has learned much from playing for a Danish league team, and it is a pity that Germany has not even qualified for the WCh. There is still a long way to go for the new team, maybe many years still.

Denmark - Holland 24 - 20 (11-7)
Roslyng 6, Ditte Andersen 4, Kiærskou 3, Fruelund 3, Melgaard 3, Kristine Andersen 2, Pedersen 1, Touray 1, Hørlykke 1

Could have won with much more (and ought to), but despite the victory the play was below normal standards. Good defence but still weak and confused attack (apart from a fine performance by the semi-veteran Roslyng, who also became top scorer). Experiments with the defence (3-2-1) did not work, but this was the match to test it in plus letting the many new players get some experience. Strange interpretations of the rules by the referees did not make the play more stable, when forced to shoot after a few seconds only. Still too much depend on Lotte (who can't always handle the role, shooting automatically when no one else can), Roslyng and Fruelund. In this match Rantala and Vestergaard did not play but Karin Mortensen did well in the goal.

Denmark - France: 20-18 (11-8)
Roslyng 5, Vestergaard 4, Kjærskou 4, Touray 3, Daugaard 2, Fruelund 1, Pernille Hansen 1

Not the most exciting match, but it is also just the beginning. An allright Danish job done, but still too many technical errors and thoughtless shots by the many unexperienced players. Fine defence but few really dangerous shooters except from Lotte. Esp. Lene Rantala showed why she is still my favourite: got 56% of the French shots in the first half and in all 50% saved is really world class.

Team list: Lene Rantala, Larvik, Karin Mortensen, Horsens, Rikke Poulsen Schmidt, Kolding, Katrine Fruelund, Viborg, Louise Pedersen, Viborg, Ditte Andersen, GOG, Mette Vestergaard, FIF, Christina Roslyng, Viborg, Gitte W. Nielsen, Virum-Sorgenfri, Pernille Hansen, Kolding, Rikke Hørlykke, GOG, Lotte Kiærskou, Viborg, Mette Melgaard, Slagelse, Kristine Andersen, Ikast/Bording, Heidi Johansen, Randers, Line Daugaard, Ikast/Bording, Josephine Touray, Kolding. (Source Ritzau)

October 2001

Anja Nielsen had just recovered from her knee problem when she fell and twisted the same knee in the national tournament. She will thus not be ready for the upcoming Championship with the national team. She has not had an easy time this year, hitting rock bottom with her play and self-esteem.

Heidi Astrup was nominated player of the year in Denmark. The other nominees were: Mette Vestergaard FIF, Ditte Andersen, Mette Iversen and Conny Hamann-Boeriths, GOG. Heidi is no longer on the national team (after 99 national matches) but has played for Viborg for 21 years now and won seven national championships with her club. She must be in every of Pytlick's evening prayers, because we really need her back on the national team - but she just won't listen! See also player data of previous nt-players.
Source: Heidi Astrup årets spiller (B.T.)

Holland Tournament 2001

Denmark won the tournament, Norway came second and Holland third.

Denmark - Sweden: 28 - 21 (12-10)
Christina Roslyng 5, Mette Vestergaard 4, Mette Melgaard 4, Line Daugaard 4, Katrine Fruelund 4, Gitte W. Nielsen 2, Ditte Andersen 1, Rikke Hørlykke 1, Kristine Andersen 1, Heidi Johansen 1, Josephine Touray 1.

Denmark - Holland: 29 -22 (16-8)
Mette Vestergaard 6, Lotte Kiærskou 4, Heidi Johansen 4, Katrine Fruelund 3, Christina Roslyng 3, Line Daugaard 3, Pernille Hansen 2, Kristine Andersen 2, Gitte W. Nielsen 1, Rikke Hørlykke 1.

Denmark - Portugal: 39-15 (9-19)
Line Daugaard 10, Lotte Kiærskou 6, Josephine Touray 6, Heidi Johansen 4, Ditte Andersen 3, Gitte Nielsen 3, Pernille Hansen 3, Katrine Fruelund 1, Mette Vestergaard 1, Christina Roslyng 1, Rikke Hørlykke 1

Denmark - Italy: 33-19 (17-8)
Josephine Touray 7, Christina Roslyng 6, Mette Melgaard 5, Gitte W. Nielsen 4, Line Daugaard 3, Kristine Andersen 3, Mette Vestergaard 2, Heidi Johansen 2, Rikke Hørlykke 1.

Denmark - Norway: 30 - 30 (14-17)
Mette Vestergaard 7, Lotte Kiærskou 5, Christina Roslyng 5, Josephine Touray 4, Ditte Andersen 3, Pernille Hansen 2, Kristine Andersen 2, Katrine Fruelund 1, Line Daugaard 1.

September 2001

Janne Kolling, the former golden wing on the national team, has become assisting trainer with Anja Andersen's team Slagelse.

August 2001

Four-nation tournament in France

On the 30. July the Danish teams went to France in order to participate in common training and the four-nation tournament, where also the countries Norway and Romania are represented.

Denmark - Romania: 34-26
Louise Pedersen 8, Lotte Kiærskou 7 (4).

Denmark - Norway: 16-19 (9-10)
Topscorer Josefine Touray 4. The Danes were in the lead 16-13 when nine minutes lasted but then went to a halt and were passed by the Norwegians.

Denmark - France: 21 - 20

The team:
1. Lene Rantala, Larvik HK, 12.Karin Mortensen, Horsens HK, 16.Mette Iversen, GOG/Gudme, 2. Katrine Fruelund, Viborg HK, 3. Louise Pedersen, Horsens HK, 4. Anne Jensen, Randers HK, 5. Mette Vestergaard Larsen, FIF, Kbh. 6. Mette Melgaard, Slagelse FH 7. Christina Roslyng Hansen, Viborg HK 8. Gitte W. Nielsen, Virum-Sorgenfri HK 9. Pernille Hansen, Kolding IF 10.Rikke Hørlykke B. Jørgensen, FIF, Kbh. 11.Anja Nielsen, Ikast/Bording EH 13.Lotte Kiærskou, Viborg HK 14.Winnie Mølgaard, El Ferrobus Mislata 15.Ditte Andersen, GOG/Gudme 17.Kristine Andersen, Ikast/Bording EH 18.Karen Brødsgaard, Viborg HK 19.Line Daugaard, Ikast/Bording EH 20.Josephine Touray, Kolding IF

Other news.
Slagelse tries to sign on the Hungarian national player Nicolett Brigovacz (E.B.)
Goalkeeper Dybmose stops playing for unknown personal reasons.
Rikke Solberg signs on for Skovbakken (B.T.)

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