VANTAA is a city near Helsinki,with a population of almost200,000 which is the fourthhighest population in Finland. It boasts thecountry’s biggestairport, and is thebirthplace oftwo-timeFormula Onechampion racingdriver MikaHakkinen. Other attractions whichmake Vantaa popular withtourists include the HeurekaScience Centre, as well as thecity museum which is next tothe current railway station buthoused in the old stationbuilding.

The museum is the oldestsurviving railway building inFinland, and was designed byCarl Albert Edelfelt and

completed 149years ago. Itstagesvariousexhibitionsthroughoutthe year onlocal historyof the area,

which is a mix ofFinnish and Swedish speakers. The Energie Areena, whereGreat Britain Men will beplaying their matches, is a3,500-capacity Arena whichwas built in 2007 and boastsmodern facilities.

GB MEN READY FORWAR OF THE WORLDS

Issue 103January 13

2010

Handball News is produced by Snowdon Sports Media Partners Ltd for the British Handball AssociationFor more details please contact 0845 230 0803 or log on to BritishHandball.com or EnglandHandball.com

The team played 10 games in 15 daysover Christmas and the New Year, anddespite some encouragingperformances they are still looking forthat elusive first victory. Four matches against top club sides inthe Limburgse Handball Tournament inHolland was followed by three matchesagainst international opposition in theYellow Cup in Switzerland, and thenanother three matches – again playingother nations – in the Marrane Cup inFrance last week. It gave Head Coach Dragan Djukic andhis coaching team chance to see theirsquad in action and pick the in-formplayers for the trip to Finland.

But with injury worries over captainCiaran Williams (foot) and in-formGawain Vincent (hand), as well as kneeniggles to John Pearce and MarkHawkins, some of the decisions may bemade for him. All Great Britain’s games take place atthe Energie Areena in Vantaa nearHelsinki, and the campaign begins witha clash against Romania on Fridayafternoon (1530 GMT). The following day they take on BosniaHerzegovina at the same time, and thenfinish their fixtures on Sunday with amatch against the hosts Finland at 1230GMT.

The top team from each group will goforward to a series of play-off matchesin June to decide who will join the bestteams in the world at the finals inSweden in January 2011.

AFTER a tough and intensive couple of weeks, the Great Britain Men’sHandball Team head to Finland this week for the World Championshipqualifying tournament.

Under-21 ace Gawain Vincent has fought his wayinto contention. Photo: Roel Custers Sittard.

Vantaa Factfile

GB coaching team, Rolf Dobler, Dragan Djukic and Bill Baillie. Pic: FOTO Wagner.

THE fabulous new-look BritishHandball website waslaunched this week, but youmay need to alter the addressin your browser. Please make sure yo go toBritishHandball.com to getthe latest news, views, blogsand pictures from the GreatBritain handball teams.

Issue 103January 13

2010

Handball News is produced by Snowdon Sports Media Partners Ltd for the British Handball AssociationFor more details please contact 0845 230 0803 or log on to BritishHandball.com or EnglandHandball.com

Men’s English Lge (North) P W D L F A Diff Pts

Manchester 8 7 0 1 251 178 73 14

Liverpool 8 5 0 3 204 187 17 10

Nottingham University 7 5 0 2 175 161 14 10

Liverpool Speke Garston 7 3 0 4 185 172 13 6

Salford 5 3 0 2 143 143 0 6

Manchester University 6 1 0 5 106 156 -50 2

Wirral 7 0 0 7 133 200 -67 0

Men’s English Lge (South) P W D L F A Diff Pts

Great Dane 5 4 1 0 137 94 43 9

Cambridge 4 3 1 0 95 75 20 7

Olympia 4 2 0 2 73 87 -14 4

Ruislip Eagles 4 1 0 3 71 92 -21 2

Thames 5 0 0 5 90 118 -28 0

Men’s Scottish League P W D L F A Diff Pts

Gracemount 6 6 0 0 266 138 88 12

Cumbernauld 6 5 0 1 192 141 51 10

Glasgow 6 4 0 2 193 172 21 8

Liberton 6 3 0 3 142 153 -11 6

Tryst 77 6 2 0 4 141 135 6 4

Ayr 6 1 0 5 115 164 -49 2

EK 82 6 0 0 6 145 251 -106 0

Results, January 9 2010

Men’s Scottish League: Glasgow 40EK82 22, Gracemount 38 Cumbernauld30. No Game: Liberton.

Fixtures, January 17 2010

Men’s English League (South)(Moulton, Northampton): Thames vCambridge, Ruislip Eagles v Olympia. NoGame: Great Dane.

Men’s English League (North)(Bellevue, Manchester): Manchester vLiverpool Speke Garston, Liverpool vNottingham University, ManchesterUniversity v Salford. No Game: Wirral.

LEADERS GRACEMOUNT SURVIVEBATTLE OF CUMBERNAULD

The four-week break hasdone little to take the edgeof the players fitness, andthe teams looked hungryfor points when they tookto the court for the two-match programme onSaturday. Gracemount remainundefeated after theirvictory over Cumbernauld.They began the game verystrongly and led 5-0, andalthough Gracemount hitback shortly they werealways behind by three orfour goals.

As the match went ontired legs helped themextend that lead to six with15 minutes remaining, andthey eventually won byeight in a high-scoring andentertaining clash. Former GB player GaryMcCafferty claimed ninegoals for Gracemount,while his team-mate AlanGovan netted seven times. In the first match of theafternoon Glasgowoverwhelmed EK82 by 40-29, despite being short-handed for the clash.

A lot of their startingplayers were unavailable –including their first choicegoalkeeper – but theymanaged to get togethereight players for the match.East Kilbride, meanwhile,fielded a young andenthusiastic team whomanaged to keep themargin of defeat to arespectable level. Danos Sagias top-scoredfor Glasgow with 12, whileChristoph Boettger addedten. For EK82, Mick Laverywas their best with eightgoals.

TEN goals each from Allan Stokes, Mounir Iddir and Robert Schotten helpedGracemount secure a 38-30 victory over Cumbernauld and stay top of the ScottishLeague table as matches resumed after the Festive period.

CoachingSeminar

A COACHING seminar is beingstaged in Scotland later thismonth as plans to boost thepopularity of handball northof the border continue. Organised by the ScottishHandball Association as wellas the European HandballFederation, the event will beheld on January 30-31 atInverclyde Sports Centre. Day one begins at 11am, andwill cover topics such as youthhandball. Day two begins at10am and will cover the 6:0defensive formation and howto attack against a 6:0 defence. Meals and accommodationare available – for more detailsand prices contactinfo@scottishhandball.com