Nina Dury: “We will play our chance to its fullest”

“I think that our team is different this season, and we did not play against the same opponents this time either,” says the 21-year-old.

“But last season was also a frustration that we used to find motivation at the start of this European season. I remember in the locker room before the first game against Hypo, we told ourselves to remember what we did last season to play the European League, and that it would be silly to waste it all again.”

Round after round, last year’s frustration faded away to make way for an appetite to go as far as possible in the competition.

“We have more experience this time around. There was a lot of changes last summer, with a new coach also, and it seems like we digested everything pretty quickly,” explains Dury, without being able to pinpoint one moment where she thought that her team could go all the way. “I guess that when you play level with teams like Lubin or Blomberg, then you get that feeling that, why not?”

In Graz, Dijon will play their third confrontation with a German club this season. After losing twice against HSG Blomberg-Lippe in the group phase, JDA defeated HSG Bensheim/Auerbach Flames twice in the quarter-finals. The draw then gave them Thüringer HC as semi-final opponents.

“It’s fun, actually, because German handball is quite interesting. Their teams play good defence, are strong physically,” says Dury,  adding with a wry smile: “Germany has followed me around all season, actually, as I played my first international game with France against their national team.”

Dury’s debut appearances for France in March in two friendly matches against Germany saw her score three goals in total; she was back on the team for France’s friendly games against the Netherlands earlier this month, notably scoring four goals from five attempts in the first encounter in Chartres.

“That was a real satisfaction, but I also know that there is a lot more work to be done and that I can play even better seasons than this one. But once you have played these kind of things, of course you want more,” she says of her debut in the national jersey.

All of this has happened while the left wing, who played all her professional career in Dijon, is still keeping up with her political science studies. In her third year at university, Dury says that her student life and handball life actually balance each other pretty well.

“It helps me take a step back from handball sometimes. When you open your international relationship book, it puts things into perspective,” she explains.

“But studies are always, to me, something that helps me take the pressure off handball. In my opinion, handball is way more stressful than studies, because it is subject to a lot of changes and surprises. Before an exam, if you have studied your topic and know what you’re dealing with, there is not much room for surprise.”

Nina Dury’s focus will be solely on handball for the first weekend of May, when Dijon play the EHF Finals. She says she trusts that they have as much opportunity to lift the trophy as any of the four participants.

“Maybe reaching the EHF Finals was a feat, which is why we celebrated so much when we qualified. But now that we’re about to play, we will play our chance to the fullest. And I do believe in our chances,” Dury concludes.

Photos © Pawel Andrachiewicz/Foto Andrus