With the victory against Bosnia and Herzegovina with a score of 32-26, the Kosovo National Handball Team has qualified for the second round of qualifications for the World Handball Championship that will take place next year.
Led by coach Agron Shabani, the girls of Kosovo scored a historic success, but members of this federation say that their goals for the future are even greater.
The president of this federation, Eugen Saraqini, told KosovaPress that such a result was expected, knowing the work and dedication of the team for a long time.
“This team of girls, of our national team, is a team that has been together for several years now, and I think that the results that have been achieved since the earliest gatherings have been on the rise every time. The work that has been done with head coach Agron Shabani has resulted in the success achieved. We expected such a result, but we were not in a situation to underestimate opponents such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belgium, who have good teams, but we have the best team and that’s how we qualified”, said Saraqini.
The next opponent for Kosovo will be determined by the draw that will be made in December, and Saraqini emphasizes that overcoming the next obstacle would be a historic and proud moment for Kosovo.
“We now have another challenge, one of the opponents will be the national team of Italy, Lithuania or Israel, and we believe that with serious preparation and dedication, we will have to defeat one of these [teams] and then we can say that we have a situation where we are proud and say that an action or a historic achievement has been made, considering that participating in a World Championship with the first team of the national team is a truly historic achievement”, said Saraqini.
The coach of Kosovo, Agron Shabani, says that with a little luck, Kosovo can beat the next rival, but he wishes that the elite European national teams will be avoided in the draw.
Shabani calls to increase the quality of the local championship in handball so that the competition in the national team is even stronger.
“Perhaps the problem is that the Kosovar league needs to be strengthened a little more so that we have opportunities for more competition from girls from Kosovo as well. We have some Kosovo girls who are in the national team, but a larger number would be better for us. I hope that in the future, both the girls in the diaspora and those in Kosovo will be on a very good path and make a very big team”, said Shabani at the end.
The draw for the second qualifying round of the World Handball Championship will be made on December 14, while the next matches will take place in April 2025.
