As the saying goes, timing – for whatever reason – is half the battle. That of the handball players is not a good thing in times of a pandemic, as their European and world championships always take place around the turn of the year, i.e. at the time of high incidence. The men’s European Championship in Hungary and Slovakia hasn’t even really started yet, it already has its first cluster. With Poland, Austria’s opening opponent of all people got caught (8.30 p.m. live on ORF Sport+). With Adam Morawski, Piotr Chrapowski, Jan Czuwara, Kacper Adamski and Damian Przytula, five infected people were reported on Wednesday evening and immediately went into quarantine. The quintet does not belong to the top ranks of the Poles. Two other players in the squad had already been hit the previous week.
ÖHB team boss Ales Pajovic did not want to comment yesterday on the extent to which Austria’s chances of getting into the top two in the preliminary round group D, which is quite balanced on paper with Germany (Sunday) and Belarus (Tuesday): “I don’t calculate who plays for them and who doesn’t. We’re ready no matter what squad they come with.”
Entire floor for ÖHB team
Before the EM, Croatia – with the director Domagoj Duvnjak, which has meanwhile turned negative again –, Denmark, Sweden, France, Serbia, Montenegro and Portugal were also affected by corona cases. Austria has so far been spared from this. The 16-man squad moved into quarters in Bratislava on Wednesday with a box full of corona tests. In order to be as isolated as possible, the team has a floor to themselves. Meals are taken in a converted conference room. Nevertheless, yesterday the tournament management discussed with the teams about tightening the security measures.
Although all ÖHB players are healthy and the opening match is still pending, Pajovic has already had to cope with a disappointment at the European Championships: “My wish was to only have to talk about handball here.”
Source: Nachrichten
