Tunisia Earns Reputation as International Handball Power

07/04/2005

Over the past decade, Tunisia earned a reputation for excellence in handball by making progressively stronger showings at international tournaments. The sport is gaining such popularity in Tunisia that sports journalist Sami Akrtmi now calls it "the second sport of our country." Akrtmi's point was highlighted when Tunisia hosted the 19th World Handball Championship from 23 January to 6 February.

(2005 Tunisia World Handball Championship Official Site; Le Quotidien – 08/02/05; AFP – 09/02/05)

[File] Tunisian national team

In an interview at the African Nations Cup football tournament, International Handball Federation (IHF) Secretary-General M. Raymond Hahn said choosing Tunisia to host the championship was motivated by a desire to highlight the universality of the sport and to prove smaller nations are capable of organizing large events.

Tunisia's organization impressed Hahn. Particularly impressive was a marketing campaign linking the sport to tourism. The host nation also created eight competition venues when only six were requested. Other factors were the existing hotel infrastructure and the country's proximity to Europe, which made it a favourable location for Europeans, according to Hahn.

The choice of Tunisia also had a lot to do with its burgeoning reputation as an international handball powerhouse. As the last World Handball Championship showed, Tunisia is a force to be reckoned with.

At the last 24-team World Handball Championship, Tunisia won Group A in the preliminary round to advance to the quarterfinals. In prior rounds, the Tunisians defeated Angola, Canada, and Denmark and tied Slovenia, Greece and France.

Rades Sports Hall near Tunis was packed with 12,000 spectators for the quarterfinal victory against Russia. But tough defence and goaltending by Spain, who eventually beat Croatia for the championship, led to Tunisia falling 33-30 in the semifinals.

The nation settled for fourth place after being clipped 26-25 by France in the third-place game. French player Didier Dinart cited the Tunisian team's progress and noted his squad's difficulty in achieving victory. The best prior finish for Tunisia in a world championship was tenth place in 2001.

The championship crowned a new handball star in Tunisian Wissem Hmam, who led all scorers with 81 goals. The efforts of the 23-year-old Esperance player, called "a monster" by Dinart, earned him selection as Best Striker and a berth on the championship all-star team.

[AFP] Hmam

In an interview with "Le Quotidien," Hmam said he was surprised to perform so well against the best handball players in the world. He believed his play demonstrated Tunisia had advanced in the sport – thanking his teammates, coaches, and fans for helping him shine.

Hmam said the success of the team was more important to him than individual accomplishments. He felt Tunisia could have performed better than its fourth-place showing.

As important as Tunisia is to him, Hmam realized that playing in high-level European championships was necessary for him to improve as a player. His performance at the world championship led to offers from professional handball clubs in Spain, France, and Germany.

In response to the flurry of offers, Hmam decided to join fellow Tunisians Anouar Ayed, Sahbi Ben Aziza, Heykel M'Gannem, and Issam Tej by playing in France. While Tunisian Esperance president Mohamed Sabbagh gave his blessing to Hmam to leave his club, he attended a March friendly tournament in Paris-Bercy in hopes of convincing the player to return to the Tunisian club. Hmam led Tunisia to a second-place finish at the event.

Tunisia is hoping to capitalize on the momentum of hosting the World Handball Championship and performing well to progress further in the sport. At a national handball symposium held in late March, Minister of Youth, Sports and Physical Education Abdallah Kaabi told attendees about the need to analyze the nation's handball situation and to seek means to increase promotion. In order for Tunisia to perform better at international competitions, he felt a national support strategy was necessary.

Tunisia represents hope for the game's future in Africa, at least to Hahn, who is pleased with increased African handball participation in international play, though he is interested in seeing the quality of the continent's play improve. For that, the IHF is providing training for African coaches, federation chairmen, and federation secretary generals. The aim is to mold the best African handball minds to be teachers of the sport.

Tunisia, with its recent successes and commitment to the sport of handball, might prove to be a shining model for other African nations to follow.