The Danish women’s national handball team is visiting Thailand from the 28th of November to the 3rd of December 2009 in connection with the World Women’s Handball Championship in China in December. Due to this the national coach for the Danish team Jan Pytlick has been in Thailand to get an overview of the area and the facilities before the team arrives in Bangkok.
The five days in Thailand will be spent on physical training, a test match against Thailand and mental preparation ahead of the women’s tough schedule in China. Besides training and working out the Danish handball women can also look forward to a sightseeing trip around Bangkok where they will get to see the impressive Grand Palace and go on a boat trip.
According to Danish Klaus Bøge, who is national coach of the Thai women’s handball team, the Danish team has chosen to go to Thailand before the Women’s World Championship because they prefer not to go directly to a big tournament, especially when it takes place as far away as China. They need time to get over the jet lag and in their experience it is much more rewarding before an important match to not stay for too long at the place where the match is taking place, he explains.
The test match in Bangkok on the 2nd of December is the Danish women’s first match against Thailand and Klaus Bøge anticipates a sweeping victory for the Danes since his team isn’t used to playing against teams with the kind of physical strength as the Danish women’s team has. Usually the Thai handball women are up against opponents such as South Korea, Japan and China. But despite the fact that Klaus Bøge is expecting his team to be beaten he considers it a great learning experience for his team to compete with a strong group such as the Danish handball women, especially since the Thai handball women are competing in China in December as well.
The test match is also of great personal significance to Klaus Bøge as his team is competing against his own native country Denmark. However he would rather have seen his team meeting the Danish handball women in China. Instead the Thai handball women will compete with countries such as Russia, the Ukraine and Australia.
The test match on the 2nd of December is for the time being scheduled to start at 7 pm and people with an interest in handball are very welcome to go watch the match at Bangkok National Stadium, Klaus Bøge says.
