Harder, faster, higher: KINEXON data marks EHF EURO milestones

After 28 matches – the preliminary round and the first four main round games – two Slovenian players are on the top two places of the fastest shots that were goals: Ana Gros leads the standings with a 114.81-km/h effort ahead of teammate Alja Varagic with 114.45.

In total, eight goals have been scored from shots over 114 km/h, with Croatia’s Kristina Prkacin, Romania’s Cristina Neagu, Norway’s Nora Mørk, Hungary’s Csenge Kucsora, and Slovenia’s Elizabeth Omoregie and Tjasa Stanko all hitting that speed.

With all the first 10 players playing in the backcourt, the theory that backs have the most powerful shots in handball still holds true at the EHF EURO 2022. In total, over 120 goals of the 1,441 scored so far have been clocked at over 100 km/h.

The iBall’s chip also tracks the number of passes made by the players at the EHF EURO 2022, with three centre backs holding the top three places, underlining their importance for their teams in the competition.

Germany’s Alina Grijseels, who is also the top scorer of the competition with 29 goals, has made the largest number of passes: 842. Next is Romania’s Eliza Buceschi with 781 passes and North Macedonia’s Monica Janeska with 727 passes, tied for the third place with Croatia centre back Valentina Blazevic. Janeska is the only player to have played only three matches in the competition.

But what about the largest number of kilometres covered in the competition?

For the whole tournament, two of Denmark’s wings, Trine Østergaard (18.98 km) and Emma Friis (17.07 km) are topping the charts, with Germany’s Johanna Stockschläder coming third, with 16.67 km ran throughout the tournament.

The record for a single game is held by Dutch left wing Bo van Wetering, who covered 5.67 kilometres in the loss against Germany, followed by Mia Emmenegger, who had 5.36 kilometres, 5.32 kilometres and 5.28 kilometres respectively in Switzerland’s three matches of the preliminary round.

Norway’s back Henny Reistad holds three of the top six maximum airtime spent during a jump in the competition, including the best one, with 0.89 seconds, as Romania’s Diana Lixandroiu is a close second, with 0.88 seconds spent in the air.

One of the most interesting data points at the Women’s EHF EURO 2022 is the maximum speed reached by a player in the competition. Surely this category must be dominated by wings – and that holds true, with Poland’s Mariola Wiertelak holding the record with a 31.57 km/h sprint, followed by Spain’s Maitane Echeverria with 29.02 and North Macedonia’s Sara Ristovska with 28.58.

All this tailor-made information has become available thanks to KINEXON.

The data points recorded by the chips wore by players throughout the games are stored in a server and are easily accessible by teams and fans alike, with every piece of information only one click away.

Therefore, the participating teams have live data available, with the holistic use of technology improving the quality of the game, as tailor-made statistics are ready to be used to change the outcome of a match, helping coaches and players make the much-needed improvements to tweak their strategy in real time.

Experiencing a new quality in handball is what the EHF and KINEXON have made their goal. After already three successful projects: the ball tracking in the VELUX EHF FINAL4 2018 as well as at the Women’s EHF EURO 2018 and the ball and player tracking in the VELUX EHF FINAL4 2019, a long-term cooperation is now the next logical step, with KINEXON and the EHF cooperating up to and including the EHF EURO 2024.

EHF, the official provider of match balls, SELECT, and KINEXON have also teamed up to use the iBall at the flagship handball events, with the world’s first intelligent handball tracking and distributing data in real time, through the chip included in the ball, providing valuable data on players’ performances and significantly increases the possibility for fan engagement.

With the team that will be crowned winners in Ljubljana next Sunday playing eight matches to secure the gold medals, every little detail is crucial. With these data points, everything can be analysed to minimise the workload and streamline the process, enhancing the chances for a win.