Audio By Carbonatix
One of the biggest events in handball recently wrapped up in Italy. A total of 28 teams did battle on the beach during the four-day EHF European Beach Handball Tour Finals, known as the ‘ebt Finals.’
The event produced one of the nastiest goals I have ever seen!
If I am being completely honest, handball is a sport for which I know very little. My basic understanding of the sport leads me to believe it is a combination of soccer, hockey and basketball. I know it can be played indoor because I used to play a modified version of handball during gym class. I also know it can be played on the beach. We’re going to focus on the latter.
The rules for beach handball in their most simple form are as follow:
- Each team can have up to eight players, with four players on the sand at a time (three court players and a goalkeeper). There are no limits to substitutions.
- Matches are played in two sets of 10 minutes. A team wins a match if it wins both sets. If each team wins one set, the match is then decided by a shootout.
- Matches are played on sand courts measuring 89 feet by 39 feet.
- Rough, physical contact is strictly prohibited.
- Each player has four seconds of possession and three steps to pass or shoot the ball.
The goal of handball is simple— throw the ball into the opposing team’s goal. The team with the most goals in each set wins that set. Scoring is unique.
A regular goal is worth one point. A spectacular goal (defined as 360º spins, alley-oops or goalkeeper goals) is worth two points. The fancier the goal, the more it is worth. You get the idea.
Beach handball goals are electric.
With the rules out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the viral goal seen around the world. It was scored at the ebt Finals in Trapani, Italy. It has been viewed more than eight million times!
The attacking player used her three steps to approach the goal crease and drew a defender. The defender thought she was going to shoot and dove sideways to make the play. She failed! The attacking player stopped in her tracks right before the crease. The defender went flying.
As the defender fell to the ground, the camera captured her reaction. She couldn’t help but to smile.
That’s just nasty. The defender never stood a chance. Her momentum was too far gone and she got burned.
I got up out of my seat and shouted “OHHHH!!!!” when I saw that goal for the first time. This one was pretty cool too:
I don’t have even the slightest idea of how to keep up with beach handball, nor how to watch. All I know is that I am fully enthralled by the highlights and cannot wait for my FYP to serve me more videos.