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ATTACK:
The Navy European Handball Tournament, held in the Sports
Hall at Sydney Olympic Park. ABCSO Jules Amos, of the
PTI Allstars, attacks the goals of the Surface Combatant
Force Element Group side.
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Photo:
ABPH Paul Berry
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By LSPT Damien Cann
European
handball has been hot since the 2004 Athens games, and nowhere
was hotter than Sydney last month when Navy opened SPORTEX 2
with the inaugural handball championships. Handball has its
origins in Ancient Greece, where it was traditionally played
on outdoor fields between teams of 100 players.
Today it has transformed into an exciting court sport played
by two teams of seven and is a hybrid of basketball and hockey
(minus the sticks).
Handball is also the second fastest land sport in the world,
behind ice hockey, with the ball reaching speeds of 120 kph.
The EAA handball championships were contested between five teams
from the Sydney area at the State Sports Centre in Homebush,
and although the pool of teams was small, the competition was
furious.
From round one, HMAS Sydney emerged as early favourites, defeating
HMAS Kuttabul a whopping 14 to 5.
As the rounds progressed it became apparent that it would come
down to SC FEG (Kuttabul) and the PT All Stars (Kuttabul). In
the end though, age and experience (SC FEG) overcame youth and
skill (PT All Stars), with SC FEG crowned champions. On completion
of the final round, standings were as follows:
