Victor Paldanius: “I try to win every game, to be like in that game in 2021”

It didn’t take long at all for Victor Paldanius to recognise the match action from the video we showed him. In fact, when we asked if he recalled the tournament, he said right away: “Absolutely. The final match of 2021.”

The final match he’s referring to was played at the YAC17 EHF Beach Handball EURO 2021. The drama witnessed in that particular final is hard to express, but one man, alongside Sweden’s goalkeeper, Oscar Johannson, became a hero: Victor Paldanius.

Sweden fought back after losing the first set to Spain, but managed to slip the six-goal advantage in the second. Spain equalised just before the whistle and took the set to a golden goal. It was Paldanius who scored the one point required to take the game to a shootout.

What followed was a remarkable fight for the gold medal. The young Swede, who eventually became tournament’s top scorer with 69 points, held his nerve to finish the job in the shootout, scoring the winning goal and bringing Sweden a historic victory.

“It makes me happy every time I see it, and this is exactly what I mean for this tournament as well.”

The Scandinavians got off to a strong start at the EHF Beach Handball EURO 2025 in Alanya, winning against both Bulgaria and a tough French team. However, they gave away two points in the preliminary round against Spain, and didn’t start the main round as expected. Italy turned out to be a tough nut to crack, and after having it in their hands, the Swedes lost in the shootout (24:34, 20:18, 5:4). 

“We all felt good heading into the game, but unfortunately, we didn’t get the offence. The defence has been great in all four matches. We saw this match as well, first set great game both sides, offence and defence, and then second set defence good as usual, and last three minutes in the offence we lost it, and the shootout. It’s unfortunate”, says creative Swedish wing.

“We will watch the game one more time, forget it and then we go straight to preparation for the next match. Just give it all to win.”

Paldanius himself was obviously angry after the match, lying on the sand after the final whistle, with tower covering his head.  

He had his breakthrough in the same year, demonstrating how big of a talent he is. The 181 cm tall player continued to impress in subsequent years. 

At his debut at the 2023 European Championship, he was the third-best scorer of the tournament with 119 points, and he went on to have a successful journey at the EHF Beach Handball Championships 2024, where he was named MVP and led Sweden to the silver medal.

“It’s all for the team. I always do my best and then keep on training. And I love the sport,” says.

It’s not for no reason that they call him one of the biggest Swedish talents in the recent years. 

“That’s good to hear of course, and I always try to do the best for me and for my team of course.” 

Interestingly, the Brännkyrka-born player does have his own ritual. 

“I’m always chewing gum. Every game,” he reveals, but after losing to Italy, he’s considering making some changes. 

“Tomorrow I might switch chewing gums, because this was not good today,” he laughs.

The recipe is set, at least for the second match of the main round against Hungary. However, if the squad coached by Heléne Bernhardtz and August Elmberg wants to progress further in the tournament, they might need to change a bit more than that. 

“First goal is absolutely to go to the quarter-finals and then everything is possible,” concludes Paldanius.

Could the rising star once again be part of a historic moment for Sweden’s beach handball? The enthralling action in Alanya will provide the answer very soon. 

Photos © kolektiff