GB Men Prepare for Turkey Meet

GREAT Britain men have begun their busy summer of international action this week, flying to Turkey for a training camp which will see them take on their hosts three times.

Following that the team will travel to Brazil and on to Lanzarote, as they continue to play teams with differing styles of handball to give themselves experience of a wide variety of nations.

The week-long training camp in Turkey will include two matches against Turkey’s first team, while they will also play a second-string Turkish outfit.

They are due to play Turkey A on May 26, and Turkey B on May 27. Following a rest day, they will then take on Turkey A again on May 29.

“Turkey will be a good opponent for us,” said assistant coach Bill Baillie. “When we played them in the Loughborough Series earlier this year they only beat us 28-26.

“But they had two or three of their main players out for that game as they couldn’t get visas, so I think they’re keen to take us on again.

“It’s a good test for us as we’re about on the same level, but their team is older and more experienced with a lot of players in their late 20s and early 30s.

“Hopefully, because we’re playing their B team too, we will get to see some of their younger players too.

“They play a typical Mediterranean style of handball. They have an aggressive defence, we normally play against 6-0 defences, whereas they are quite open and similar to African and Asian teams in a lot of ways.”