New Zealand opened its account at the Asian Men’s Handball Championship in Bahrain with a 13-40 defeat to Iran, the top seed in their group, which also includes South Korea and China.
While the loss against such high-calibre opposition was foreseeable, it has not deterred the team from their goal of making New Zealand handball history with a maiden victory in only their third appearance at the tournament.
“Today we performed to the best of our ability, but it was not enough for the might and experience of Iran,” Aston Lang (Ngāpuhi) wrote on Instagram after Saturday morning’s (NZT) match.
“However we leave this match with a better understanding of ourselves and our capabilities.”
As Lang left Aotearoa for the Middle East - where he met up with teammates Cameron Ross (Ngāti Ruanui) and Willy Makea (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongowhakaata) - he told Te Ao News that the preliminary round matches would help the team with their mission to achieve a first win. In Kuwait in 2020, they came close with a narrow 34-30 loss to Hong Kong.
“It’s important to remember that we learn a lot in these first two or three matches. We play world class teams. We pick up a lot of trends in the early matches and we apply what we’ve learned in the later half.”
Reflecting on today’s game, Ross told Te Ao News on Saturday evening (NZT) that the match was a huge challenge for the team.
“It was good to get the first game in the books. The speed and physicality was on a completely different level to anything we experience in New Zealand.
“We knew it was going to be a huge challenge for us and our goal was to go out and put in 100% for 60 mins. Iran were a big, physical team and for patches we were able to hold our own, so we will take the positives and look to build them into longer stretches over the tournament.”
In this morning’s post, Lang said the team remained focused.
“New Zealand handballers don’t have access to handball at a frequency or level as high as our competitors, but that doesn’t stop us from pouring our hearts and souls into being the best we can.
“To each and every one of our supporters, thank you for being there for us and believing in what we do.
“We will continue to leave everything on the court for EVERY match, and I’m confident we will leave this tournament with a mission accomplished.”
Today’s match was preceded by the New Zealand handball haka, Te Kapa Pā-ringa ō Pango, led by Ross and Makea.
Both players regard this as a huge honour.
“It is awesome to present our culture to people that often know nothing about us,” Ross said this evening.
“They are always respectful and intrigued - and in the past, I have had many conversations about what the haka stands for.”
New Zealand’s next match is against South Korea on Monday (NZT).
Watch the team haka.
This article was updated on Saturday evening (NZT) to include comment by Cameron Ross.