Representing Austria at #ewc2019rade is RuckTchouk-Traiskirchen, featuring left-shooter, Andreas Türk. The left-handed 21-year old has spoken to us regarding his tchoukballing career and his hopes for EWC 2019 in Radevormwald.

‘Stay humble, train hard and have fun’. These are some wise words on young shoulders from this week’s player Andreas Türk, the 22-year-old left-handed left shooter from Traiskirchen, Austria. Having started playing tchoukball for Traiskirchen at the age of 8, Türk is a very experienced tchoukballer despite being one of the youngest featured players, with more than 60 international caps for Austria. He represented the Juniors M18 team at the World Youth Tchoukball Championships in Austria (2011) and Taiwan (2013) whilst also appearing for the senior team at European Tchoukball Championships in 5 events spanning 2008-2018, as well as a World Tchoukball Championship in Italy in 2011. His first EWC title win in 2013 takes top spot for his favourite tchoukball moment so far.

Türk is sports mad. It was this interest in sport that led him to the fortuitous discovery of tchoukball. He was in a public football field when he saw someone playing tchoukball - this was Norbert Ciperl, the founder of RuckTchouk Traiskirchen. When he’s not on the tchoukball court, you can find him running, cross-country skiing and mountain biking, to name but a few.

One of the best things about tchoukball for Türk is that you can’t use force and injury to gain an advantage through tackles. It’s one person’s skill against another. Not only does tchoukball teach players to play fairly and with a sportsman like attitude, but also basic manners which aren’t inbuilt into the ethics of tchoukball. In terms of progression as a sport however, tchoukball has a way to go before new possibilities and opportunities to play are all across the world. Being able to watch tchoukball as you would football on the television would encourage younger players to pick up the sport.

These manners developed and practiced throughout the tchoukball world and have introduced him to his teammate and main tchoukbae, Manuel Steineck. He has also made friends internationally and made a specific mention to Chiara Rizzi, the Italian tchoukball socialite.

Since beginning in 2004, Türk has definitely noticed a great difference in the size and quality of the game. He believes it changed in around 2012 with an increase of training influenced by the Taiwanese after the WTC 2011. Their lasting impact meant that teams were closely watching them to learn from their techniques and from that point onwards, he saw an increase of players, particularly in Italy and Switzerland. This year, the team goal is to give everything that they have, play as well as they can and enjoy every moment.