Ricardo Castro and Meike Kruijer receive EHF Excellence Awards 2024 in beach handball
Ricardo Castro and Meike Kruijer have been named the season’s Most Valuable Players based on all nominations and selections into the All-star Teams of the ebt Finals 2024 in Lacanau, France, in June; the 2024 IHF Beach Handball World Championships in Pingtan Island, China, in June; and the EHF Beach Handball Champions Cup 2024 in Porto Santo, Portugal, in October.
They are the successors of Spanish legend Asun Batista and Portuguese youngster Gabriel Conceição, who won the Beach Handball MVP titles at the EHF Excellence Awards 2023. Kruijer and Castro will be honoured and receive their awards at the EHF Excellence Awards 2024 gala on 14 December in Vienna, Austria.
Ricardo Castro helped Portugal win bronze at the Men’s World Championship and was named the All-star goalkeeper of the event. It was Portugal’s best result in only their second-ever participation in the global championships.
Playing with his club team GRD Leça – Spar, the goalkeeper not only won the title, but was also named in the All-star Team again at the season-ending Champions Cup in Porto Santo in October.
The 38-year-old Castro, who is a physiotherapist and has a neurorehabilitation clinic in his daily life, gave up his indoor handball career in 2021 and has been dedicating his time to the beach game ever since.
Meike Kruijer was a leading player for the Netherlands and became part of the All-star Team when they took bronze at the Women’s World Championship, repeating their achievement from the 2022 edition.
The right wing starred again at the recent EHF Champions Cup, where she steered the Dutch club team Black Lake Beach to third place, finishing the event as the MVP and the second-best scorer.
An industrial engineering student in daily life, the 21-year-old Kruijer has been playing beach handball since the age of 14. In the indoor game, she currently plays as a right back for Dutch side JuRo Unirek VZV in their third straight EHF European Cup Women season.
