Handball - Women

Austria defeated by Norway on Tijsterman’s debut

Monique Tijsterman(Bild: Manuel Lorenzo / EFE / picturedesk.com)

Austria's women's national handball team suffered the expected defeat on the debut of new team manager Monique Tijsterman! 

The ÖHB team were beaten 22:43 (19:10) by hosts Norway in Halden on Wednesday, their third defeat in the third game of the EHF EURO Cup. The opportunity for revenge against the Scandinavians will come next Sunday (4 p.m.) in Innsbruck.

The class of the runners-up in the World and European Championships was too great
In Wednesday's duel, the Austrians had no chance right from the start. Before their first international match, Tijsterman's motto was to strengthen their defense - but this was only partially successful against the Norwegians, as the class of the reigning runners-up in the World and European Championships was too great.

Tijsterman had mixed feelings afterwards. "In the first 15 minutes and even after the last timeout in the second half, we were able to force Norway into making technical mistakes and put good pressure on their backcourt players. But overall that wasn't enough when you're playing against a team like Norway," explained the team boss.

It was a mixed debut as team manager for the Dutchwoman. Before the 54-year-old, the German Herbert Müller had coached the ÖHB women for almost 20 years in a total of 236 international matches. Tijsterman wants to lead her team to the absolute European top by the home European Championships from November 28 to December 15 this year.