KINEXON data offers insight into All-star Team nominees

Providing data in real time, from the speed of the shots taken by players, to the number of jumps, changes of direction, as well as the speed of the sprints on the court, KINEXON provides a trove of data which makes analysing a match easier for everybody involved.

Now, with the main round of the EHF EURO 2024 done and dusted and only five matches to go in the final weekend in the LANXESS arena in Cologne, it is time to sift through the vast amounts of data and see which were the most interesting points found.

For example, one of the All-star nominees, Austria centre back Lukas Hutecek, had the longest playing time on the court at the EHF EURO 2024, 402 minutes and 21 seconds, more than six and a half hours donning his national team shirt in Mannheim and Cologne.

Moreover, the KINEXON data reveals that Hutecek ran 31.86 kilometres, more than half a marathon. Hutecek also had the longest possession time of all players at the EHF EURO 2024, spending 61 minutes and 33 seconds with the ball in his hands, therefore more than an entire match from the seven Austria played in the competition.

In fact, the top six players with the largest time of ball in possession have made the All-star nominees list, with Hutecek being followed by teammate Nikola Bilyk (48 minutes and 53 seconds), Germany’s Juri Knorr (43 minutes and 39 seconds), Dutch centre back Luc Steins (43 minutes and 11 seconds), Slovenian centre back Aleks Vlah (38 minutes and 4 seconds) and French centre back Nedim Remili (37 minutes and 42 seconds).

Hutecek had, by far, the largest number of passes in the competition, 1,771, followed by two other nominees for the All-star Team at the EHF EURO 2024, Bilyk (1,383 passes) and Steins, with 1,163 passes.

Dazzling speed and creative players get their share

Via the KINEXON data, it can also be revealed that Steins, who is nominated for All-star centre back, has made the largest number of changes of direction, nine more than Bilyk and 19 more than Portugal’s Leonel Fernandes, dazzling with his skills throughout the whole competition.

Moving to the speed of the game, which was absolutely on the up at the EHF EURO 2024, there have been seven players – all wings – who have been registered with a speed of over 31 km/h, two of which are also nominated for the All-star Team.

Danish left wing Emil Jakobsen has been clocked at 31.54 km/h, just a little slower than France’s Dylan Nahi (31.57 km/h), who is leading the standings. Another nominee in the All-star Team, Norway’s Alexandre Blonz, who had a breakthrough tournament at the EHF EURO 2024, was clocked at 31.00 km/h, during the Scandinavian derby between Norway and Sweden.

Defence in numbers

Two players are nominated for two categories in the All-star Team, Germany’s left back Julian Köster and Denmark’s line player Magnus Saugstrup, both in their respective categories and for the best defender position.

Via the data analysed, Köster leads the pack in the number of blocks, with 13, an average of 1.9 per match, while Saugstrup has eight blocks, for an average of 1.3 per match.

In terms of goalkeepers, the KINEXON data also provides excellent insight in terms of the number of saves, as well as the speed of the shots saved. In the latter category, Hungary’s Kristóf Palasics is leading the way, saving a 128.22 km/h shot, but two nominees in the All-star Team, France’s Samir Bellahcene (127.05 km/h) and Germany’s Andreas Wolff (126.8 km/h) are also there in the top five.

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