Overwhelming victory of the Czech Republic! Both the men’s and women’s Czech teams won the World University Handball Championship in Blumenau HANDBALL 2012 Blumenau - SC Brazil 21st World University Championship
PARTICIPATION
Since its first edition in 1963 in Lund, Sweden, the World University Handball Championship has become one of the main elements of the FISU programme. This is why every year so many cities bid for the organisation of that competition. After the 2010 edition organised in the region of Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg in Hungary, this year the championship gathered men’s and women’s teams in Blumenau, a city located in southern Brazil, in the state of Santa Catarina. Since 2006, men’s and women’s competitions are indeed held in the same place. In 2010, 10 teams had competed in the men’s competition, and 7 in the women’s tournament. This year’s 21st edition featured 10 men’s teams divided into 2 groups of 5 during the qualification rounds, while the women’s competition consisted in a series of 6 teams. Nearly 215 athletes participated in the eleven-day competition, which took place on the two courts of Blumenau’s “SESI Sport Complex”, a high-quality multi-sport complex that provided teams with ideal playing conditions. This was the first time in its history that the World University Handball 24
UNIVERSITY SPORTS MAGAZINE 84
1
BRA
2
CHI
3
CZE
HANDBALL Handball 2012 2012 H/M F/W OFF
TOT
Blumenau - SC 14 Brazil 14
9
14
9
37
14
14
10
38
21st World University 14 Championship
37
4
KOR
14
0
4
18
5
KWU
10
0
3
13
6
MEX
14
0
3
17
7
POL
14
13
10
37
8
POR
12
0
3
15
9
ROU
0
12
4
16
10
TPE
14
0
5
19
11
TUR
14
0
3
17
12
URU
0
14
3
17
Total
134
81
66
281
A first and a success in Blumenau! Photo Handball OC
Championship was organised outside Europe. It achieved great success thanks to the flawless organisation and efforts made by CBDU to assist teams in travelling within Brazil. Some teams participated for the first time in this tournament, e.g. Uruguay, Chile. Teams would gather to watch the matches of the 2012 Football Euro, thus contributing to a very nice atmosphere.
Women’s tournament The 6 teams first competed in the qualification round. Later on the 1st one played against the 2nd one for the gold medal; the 3rd and the 4th ones fought for the silver medal; and the last two teams competed for an honorary 5th place.