SUMMARY: Pytlick and Lunde named MVPs at first EHF Excellence Awards
The first EHF Excellence Awards have honoured the best handball players of the 2022/23 season with a gala night at Marx Halle in Vienna on Monday.
I didn't expect it, so it is pretty amazing to stand here in front of all these amazing people, all those legends I have been looking up to as a kid. It is just a big honour.
21:22
Now, let's switch to beach handball for a moment.
The MVPs of the 2022/23 season are the same players who have been named MVP at the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2023 last month... Spanish legend Asun Batista and Portuguese youngster Gabriel Conceição!
How would you describe beach handball in one word, Anja Althaus asks.
"My life," Asun Batista says, and that is the truth.
21:21
That completes our teams of the season, women:
- Left wing: Emma Friis – DEN / Ikast Handbold
- Left back: Cristina Neagu – ROU / CSM Bucuresti
- Centre back: Henny Reistad – NOR / Team Esbjerg
- Right back: Nora Mørk – NOR / Team Esbjerg
- Right back: Ana Gros – SLO / Györi Audi ETO KC
- Right wing: Angela Malestein – NED / FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria
- Line player: Vilde Ingstad – NOR / Team Esbjerg
- MVP & Goalkeeper: Katrine Lunde – NOR / Vipers Kristiansand
- Defender: Kathrine Heindahl – DEN / Team Esbjerg
Men:
- Left wing: Timur Dibirov – RUS / HC PPD Zagreb
- MVP & Left back: Simon Pytlick – DEN / GOG
- Centre back: Luc Steins – NED / Paris Saint-Germain Handball
- Right back: Mathias Gidsel – DEN / Füchse Berlin
- Right wing: Hans Lindberg – DEN / Füchse Berlin
- Line player: Ludovic Fabregas – FRA / Barça
- Goalkeeper: Niklas Landin – DEN / THW Kiel
- Defender: Thiagus Petrus – BRA / Barça
21:19
The stars of the future? Our rookies of the season are Brest Bretagne Handball's Pauletta Foppa and Barça's Domen Makuc. Congrats both!
21:15
Best defenders? Kathrine Heindahl and Tiagus Petrus!
"If the coach thinks I have to play just in defence, I play defence. If any moment he thinks I have to play in attack, I go there and score the goals," says Tiagus Petrus, who used to play in attack but is a key defender for Barça nowadays.
21:06
Who has done best between the posts? Katrine Lunde and Niklas Landin are the best goalkeepers of the past season!
"It was an incredible season," says Niklas Landin, who is set to move back from Germany to Denmark this summer. "It was a lot of fun and I am extremely proud."
20:59
The standout line players of 2022/23 have been Vilde Ingstad and Ludovic Fabregas!
"I feel very happy and proud for getting this award," says Ingstad per video message.
20:56
"I am just standing in the corner, relaxing. It is not so hard!"
Füchse Berlin right wing Hans Lindberg explains how he can still be the best in his position at age 41.
20:52
The best on the right wing are... Angela Malestein and Hans Lindberg!
20:49
Right backs... we have three! Two winners on the women's side as Nora Mørk and Ana Gros end on the exactly same amount of votes, and one winner on the men's side, Mathias Gidsel.
Ana Gros says "it is an amazing honour and I have to thank both my teams: Slovenia and Györ," adding she is "proud and happy" with the award and sees it as an additional "push" for the near future.
Watch out for Gros next season again!
20:42
On to the centre backs: Luc Steins and Henny Reistad receiving the honours for this position.
"I am really honoured to receive this award. It was a tough season with a lot of ups and downs," says Luc Steins, who is not present tonight but has sent a video message.
20:38
Cristina Neagu and Simon Pytlick are our best left backs of the 2022/23 season.
"It was a big honour to be part of the Danish team at such young age. That was a great feeling," Pytlick tells Victor Tomás in the on-stage interview.
20:30
And the winners are...
The awarding of the best players of the 2022/23 is starting right now!
We start with the left wings... Emma Friis and Timur Diborov are the first. Congrats!
19:48
Here you go, the full list of 60 legends, who have now been officially added to the Hall of Fame. Congrats and deserved!
19:14
The night starts with a blast from the past: the first Hall of Fame of European handball is introduced and 60 legends of our game earn their place in this select group of all-time greats.
The first name to be called... Stefan Kretzschmar. Not a bad choice!
19:09
The newly introduced EHF Excellence Awards are all about the European handball community, EHF President Michael Wiederer points out in his opening words. How true!
19:05
"Moments that last" says one of the big screens on stage. That is exactly what tonight is about: honour and remember the many stars that shaped the face of our sport in the 2022/23 season, or in the past, in the case of our legends.
The ceremony starts any moment now. Enjoy!
18:55
The clock is ticking... the gala is starting in a few minutes as many guests – wearing robes, dresses, and suits instead of jerseys and shorts tonight – are looking to find their table in this stunning setting of Marx Halle in Vienna.
So many well-known faces of the sport gathered in one room, have we ever had that before?!
18:34
Hungarian great Laszlo Nagy has just called the EHF Excellence Awards "the Oscars of handball". We won't argue with that.
18:19
The build-up to this inaugural gala is in full flow (catch the livestream on YouTube), with one of our moderators (and former star player, herself!) Anja Althaus conducting backstage interviews, like here with FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria's Dutch right wing Angela Malestein.
18:11
We are starting with the gala here in Vienna at 19:00 CEST. So, what exactly are we going to witness tonight?
The EHF Excellence Awards – for both men and women – honour the best players in each position: goalkeeper, left wing, left back, centre back, right back, right wing, and line player, plus best defender and rookie of the season.
From the seven playing positions and the best defender a season MVP, the Player of the Year, will be selected.
The best beach handball athletes receive a dedicated award, ensuring an additional aspect of European handball is covered as well.
But... before we award the best players from 2022/23, we will take you back into the rich history of handball, announcing 60 legends of the game who will be inducted to the all-new Hall of Fame.
18:00
Good evening from Marx Halle in summer-like Vienna. All day the sun has been shining here in Austria's capital, but in the evening the stars will be shining – the stars of handball!
It is the gala night of the inaugural EHF Excellence Awards as the European Handball Federation crowns for the first time the season's best players.
So, get dressed up and join us here on the live blog as we guide you through this exciting off-court handball night. We are live on YouTube (embedded on top of this blog) and Twitch.
