Petra Blazek: “You get a chance like this once in your lifetime”

"It's brilliant that Austria, Hungary and Switzerland are organising this tournament – and the final weekend is even taking place in my home town of Vienna."

Austria hosted Men’s EHF EURO tournaments in 2010 and 2020 (as joint host with Norway and Sweden); now the women are competing in Innsbruck and Vienna. After the men's national team played a strong EHF EURO in Germany in January, the women now want to emulate that at their home tournament.

"There was a real handball hype for the men for a short time, there was a lot of talk about handball. Now it is up to us to get as many people as possible interested in handball, to come to the EHF EURO matches and to get many boys and girls to start playing handball," says Blazek, a globetrotter when it comes to the sport.

From 1994 to 2010 she played for her home club Hypo Niederösterreich, then moved abroad for the first time, for one season to Thüringer HC in Germany. After an interlude at Hypo, she then went to France (Mios Biganos), then to Hungary (MTK Budapest) and Norway (Molde), before spending four years in Romania (Valcea and Buzau).

She then stood between the posts for Thüringer HC for another two years (2020-2022), and has been playing for Hypo again since then. With Hypo she was an EHF Champions League Women finalist in 2008, and she went on to win the EHF Cup Winners' Cup as well as national titles in many countries.

Her first major tournament with the national team was the 2005 IHF Women’s World Championship, followed by four world championships and two EHF EURO tournaments. Austria did not qualify for any world championship from 2011 to 2021 and for no European championship from 2008 until this year.

"Our highlight was definitely the 2009 World Championship in China, when we played really well. And when we missed the qualifications year after year, I said: I'll play in the national team until we qualify for a major tournament again," reveals Blazek.

That was in 2021 at the World Championship in Spain, but numerous Covid cases in the team thwarted a successful performance. In 2023, Austria took part in the World Championship tournament thanks to a wildcard.

Blazek has been the Austrian captain for a long time and was coached by Herbert Müller for 20 years, from her debut until January 2024. Then Dutchwoman Monique Tijsterman took over the team 11 months before the EHF EURO on home ground.

"Every coach naturally brings his own elements, for example in terms of defence. So we play differently. Things are going very well now, as the last test matches against North Macedonia, the Czech Republic and Ukraine have shown. We are therefore optimistic for the home tournament, because we have prepared really intensively. We have big plans," Blazek says.

"Representing Austria in the best possible way" is one of the main goals of Petra Blazek and her teammates. In addition to the home advantage, the team is relying on a mix of youth and experience.

“We don't have a star in the team, so we are harder to defend, and every player counts," says Blazek, who wants to "lead with experience" to guide the young players through the tournament.

The anticipation for the EHF EURO is much bigger than the pressure on the team.

"Even though there is much more media interest than at other tournaments, we want to stay cool as a team, we don't put any pressure on ourselves internally and we don't drive ourselves crazy," says the goalkeeper.

Austria will play in the preliminary round in Innsbruck, and the goal and dream is to reach the main round in Vienna. To do this, they have to finish at least second in the group. Their opponents are Slovakia; Olympic champions and record European champions Norway; and Olympic Games participants Slovenia.

"It's a strong group, but we definitely want to go to Vienna. We are the favourites against Slovakia. There's no point talking about the game against Norway, they always play for medals. After the Olympics, Slovenia's squad changed a bit, young players came in, this game will be decisive," predicts Blazek.

To book their ticket to Vienna, the Austrians are counting on the support of the fans in Innsbruck. "Women's handball is not that big in the Tyrol, but the hall was full there for our EHF EURO Cup game against Norway. There was a lot of promotion for the EHF EURO locally, so I'm excited to see how many fans will come to our games, because they play a big role," says Blazek.

Since almost all of the national team players have played for Viennese clubs at some point or are from Vienna or the Niederösterreich Region, the motivation to proceed to the main round is even higher.

"The fact that so many people from the area will come to Stadthalle is a great motivation for us. Playing a home tournament is already unique, but playing in your own city is the greatest, it's a huge opportunity for all of us, you get a chance like this once in your life,” Blazek concludes.

Photos © JDA Bourgogne Handball; Eva Manhart; EXPA/ Johann Groder