The top scorer is heading to Erfurt after Paris – interview with Csenge Kuczora

– Did you also bathe in the Békás lake during the Sunday night celebration?
“I also went with the girls, but I only dangled my feet in the water.” The selected members of the squad who agreed to this before the weekend went head to head – to be specific: Petra Füzi-Tóvizi and Réka Bordás. On Monday, I came home to Fót, but on the way I stopped at my grandmother, who lives in Gyöngyös. My family and I have been living in Fót for twenty years, I love living here.

– After a long time, they played again as a real big team at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Debrecen. Did they once again show the winning mentality on the pitch that we have already seen from their generation at the junior world championships?
– I really hope that everyone has managed to believe that we can be effective even against the highest level opponents. The national team captain Vladimir Golovin always tells us that our real strength is in team unity, I am happy for him that we were finally able to show this in a stable way.

– Many say the key World Cup match against Croatia, which they managed to win 23-22, was the turning point. Participation in the Olympic qualifying tournament is also thanks to this victory.
– Obviously, it took the last seventeen minutes of the World Cup match against the Croatians for something to “click” in us. We fought for our lives in the hair, we did it, we turned it around, and from there our game developed step by step. These steps were also in Debrecen. Since the British jumped in at the last minute, we had no video footage of them, no idea how to prepare against them. We knew that they were not at the level of the Cameroon national team. Still, we managed to take them seriously enough, we approached the game well. We fouled many times in defense and played fast in attack. Before the rally against the Swedes, some people wrote us off, but we wanted to do our best to refute them. All in all, we were able to keep the match under control throughout, when we got into some minor ups and downs, our fantastic fan base helped us through it. Japan plays precise and fast handball, but we managed to “untangle” the solution during the preparation. Thanks to our good defense, we were able to present a braver offensive game, so the end was smooth. When the girls and I looked at each other five minutes before the whistle blew, we already knew it would happen, and then at the moment the bagpipes sounded, we were overcome with immense happiness, because our dream had come true.

– What makes the transition from the youth team to the adult field so difficult?
– At the level of replacement, the other nations do not yet deal with tactics as much as we do, they mainly focus on individual training. With the age-group national teams, we go to individual world events in such a way that we meticulously develop detailed tactics for each opponent. This tactic does not change much at the adult level, which favors foreigners.

– How can the pressure arising from early success be overcome?
– I don’t feel that the extra popularity experienced after success was a bigger burden. I ended up in Vác relatively young, at the age of eighteen, where I was quickly thrown into deep water. After that I had two injuries, but the more routine members of the team, Konszüéla Hámori, Rita Lakatos, the two Brazilian legionnaires, Karoline de Souza and Bárbara Arenhart, helped me through these difficult periods.

– How different is your role in your club team than in the national team?
– Now it’s quite different, but I try to play in the national team in such a way that sooner or later one of the two roles becomes one. I am a manager in Vác, in the national team they count on me more as a shot putter.

– How did you come into contact with handball, have you tried other sports before?
“I was six years old when I first picked up a handball.” Although I did gymnastics and swimming for a short time, I was always more of a “ball” kid. My parents only played sports as a hobby, I am the first professional athlete in the family. I started playing handball at Vasas, because this club was the closest to my school, the two places were within walking distance of each other.

– At Vasas, he was able to make his debut in NB I at a very young age. In addition, one of the best Hungarian handball players of all time, Péter Kovács, was his coach. What was it like working with him early in your career?
– It was quite hard, it was hard to get used to, but he also helped me to stay here in my career now, at the age of twenty-four. He encouraged me the most, he was helpful, but he also “roasted” when needed. He also gave me a lot of advice for improving my shooting technique, which I tried to put into practice right away.

“If you weren’t an athlete, what would you do?”
– I used to really like taking pictures, but now I don’t have as much time for it. I also have a good brand of camera, but I think you can take good quality pictures with a normal smartphone. Rather, landscape photography is my strength, I still have to learn portrait photography and other genres.

“What hobbies do you have?”
– I like hiking, either alone or with my dog ​​- I have a yorkie-havanese mix.

“Who is your role model?”
– Kinga Debreczeni-Klivinyi recently asked me the same thing, and I half-jokingly answered him that he was. Half-way through, because I wouldn’t call him my role model, but in the past I really liked watching his game, I watched almost everyone who played in the interior position to see what little things I could learn from him.

– What do you consider your greatest strength on the field?
– I like to organize a game, but my real strength is shooting from the ground and shooting from a distance of eight to eight and a half meters.

– What are your best and worst qualities off the field?
“I’m a bit stubborn, I like it when I can tell you what to do.” Having a person with the same personality is not necessarily a good thing. At the same time, I am patient, I always listen to everyone. I don’t like to be the center of attention, it’s obviously different on the field, I take the decision when I have to, but in my private life I don’t like to be featured.

– How much can the upcoming summer, the Paris Olympics and the subsequent change of club, the new impulse in Germany boost your career? And why did you choose Thüringer HC, which is officially based in Erfurt?
– I felt that the time had come for a change, I hope that I made the right decision, I trust my decision. I definitely wanted to sign a contract abroad, in addition to Germany, we were also looking at France. The coach of Thüringer HC, Herbert Müller, wanted me, which was important in making my decision. If the Hungarian clubs participating in the Champions League contact me in the coming years, I would be happy to come home, but for now I prefer to think abroad.

“Where do you see yourself in ten years?”
– In ten years, I want to be around the handball court, preferably as a player. Coaching does not appeal to me at the moment, but somehow I would definitely like to pass on as much experience as possible, which I have gathered abroad and at home.

(The article was published in the April 20, 2024 edition of Képes Sport, the Saturday supplement of Nemzeti Sport.)