Sports News in Brief: Handball world champs to be hailed at City Hall this evening

Elsewhere, there were big titles for Clara Tauson and Anders Antonsen, while Danish running lost a legend

Jan 28, 2019

Tens of thousands of fans are expected to gather at City Hall in Copenhagen today to celebrate the Danish men’s handball team following their triumph at the World Championship yesterday.

The team will arrive at City Hall at around 17:00 and will, as tradition dictates, appear on the balcony at City Hall to bask in the fans’ praise for a few minutes before retreating back inside to enjoy their much-deserved pancakes – another tradition.

“Denmark are world champions! The handball men have delivered us an absolute world-class sports feat and I look forward to offering them pancakes and celebrating the triumph at City Hall,” said the city mayor, Frank Jensen.

Norwegian wood
Denmark reached several landmarks with their dominating 31-22 win over Norway last night – the most special being that it has become the first country to win all six major tournaments (men and women: Euros, Worlds and Olympics).

However, there are unlikely to be that many Norwegians at City Hall today following their complaints that the Danish supporters were unsporting during the match yesterday.

Tauson’s big triumph Down Under
The Danish tennis talent Clara Tauson won her first grand slam title for juniors on Saturday, beating Leylah Fernandez in the final of the Australian Open. The 16-year-old Dane lived up to her top seeding by overcoming the fourth-ranked Canadian 6-4, 6-3 in just over an hour. The win means Tauson will be the top-ranked junior player in the world – the first time a Dane has accomplished that, as Caroline Wozniacki only reached second in the rankings after she won Wimbledon as a junior. Tauson is the fourth Dane to ever win a junior grand slam tournament, joining Wozzie, Kristian Pless and Kurt Nielsen (twice).

Antonsen nets big win in Indonesia
Badminton starlet Anders Antonsen secured the biggest title of his career over the weekend by winning the men’s singles at the Indonesia Masters. The 21-year-old Dane beat Japanese world number one Kento Momota 21-16, 14-21, 21-16 in Jakarta for his first Super 500 tournament title. Momota had knocked out Jan Ø Jørgensen, Hans-Kristian Vittinghus and Viktor Axelsen on his way to the final. Meanwhile, the conflict between Danish badminton players and the national association Badminton Danmark is over after an accord regarding a new collective wage agreement was reached on Sunday.

Danish marathon legend dead at 57
Danish athletics is in mourning following the news that running hero Henrik Jørgensen has passed away on Saturday aged just 57. Jørgensen, who won the London Marathon in 1988, died of a heart attack near his home in Bornholm while on his daily 10 km jog. He also won the Copenhagen Marathon in 1982 and 1983, finished second at the 1986 Berlin Marathon and still holds the Danish marathon record with a time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 43 seconds. His daughter, Anna Holm, took part in the marathon at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, coming in at 55th.