State honours as Polish handball turns 100
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
27.10.2018 08:30
Nearly 30 former handball players, coaches and officials have been awarded state decorations by the president to mark 100 years of the sport in Poland.
President Andrzej Duda (left) presents a state award to Bogdan Zajączkowski (right), a former head coach of the Polish men's national handball team, during a ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on Friday. Photo: PAP/Leszek Szymański
During the ceremony in Warsaw on Friday, President Andrzej Duda said that the history of handball in Poland was closely interwoven with the history of the nation recovering its independence a century ago—more so than in the case of any other sport.
Handing out the awards at the Presidential Palace, Duda listed some of the successes of Polish handball players over the past decade or so, including world championship medals in 2007, 2009 and 2015.
The Polish women's national handball team has qualified for this year’s European championships, which will be held in France from November 29 to December 16.
Poland regained independence on November 11, 1918, the day World War I ended, after 123 years of partition by Russia, Austria and Prussia.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR