Interview with the Löwen playmaker: Handball player Juri Knorr before moving to Denmark

Star handball player Juri Knorr will leave the Rhein-Neckar Löwen at the end of the season. He spoke to SWR Sport before he finished his career, his development as a handball player and dealing with pressure.

He will still make a competitive game in the yellow jersey of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, then Juri Knorr, playmaker will return to the Mannheimers and in the German national team, the handball Bundesliga. From the coming season, the 25-year-old will play abroad and For the Danish top club Aalborg Handbold run up. Before his farewell – on June 8th there is still a home game for the lions – Juri Knorr spoke in conversation with SWR Sport on his previous career, the special time at the Rhein -Neckar Löwen and the adventure abroad.

SWR Sport: The most important question first, how are you?

Juri Knorr: I’m fine. Many topics, I don’t just want to call it stress, but of course such a move is always stress, especially abroad. There are more things that you don’t have on the screen before. Therefore there is a lot in the head, a lot that has to be done. On the other hand, I also want to enjoy my home of the past four years a bit. So far I have not succeeded so much because there was a lot to do. This is a bit the status quo.

Let’s go back to your start with the lions. With what expectation did you come here and why?

I came here because I was convinced that the club, the situation, the environment overall, are the best and next step for my development. I had a good feeling about the conversations, especially with Andy Schmid. It was the case that he also spoke to me and said: ‘Hey, it will be my last year and I would like to pass on a few more things and would like to do it with you.’ For me, of course, that was a dream constellation to share a season with one of my biggest idols, to learn a lot from him.

Then I made my decision relatively quickly and also had the opportunity for me to get the opportunity to get playing time. That is why I was convinced when I do my homework, continue to work on me, will be willing to learn that my chance came. And that’s how it came. I am very happy about the decision back then and how everything went and could not have imagined a better club or a nicer station in the past four years.

What has been fulfilled in the four years and what has not been fulfilled?

To say that I would somehow be dissatisfied, that would be pretty measured. Basically, I am incredibly grateful for everything that went. The fact that I mostly stayed healthy, had no such great injuries and that I could just go my way here. In relation to the big picture, of course, more consistency would have been desired that we would reach even better placements in the Bundesliga. On the other hand, we really had really cool experiences in the cup competitions and achieved good results. We were three times in the Final Four of the DHB Cup, we could really win something that is still one of the most beautiful moments in my career for me. I’m just happy how it went and very grateful. If someone had told me that beforehand, I would have taken it a hundred times and would have exceeded many expectations.

How difficult is it to hide the pressure from outside? What mechanisms have you worked out in time?

You can see some games that you don’t always succeed. On the other hand, I am really satisfied how I have succeeded better over the years. Simply stay with me, always in focus on every match day. That is different for everyone. It has become clear to me in recent years that I cannot be completely loose. I need a certain nervousness, I need tension. I have to feel such a tension during the day that this is a match day, otherwise I will not get up really.

It shouldn’t come to me that I get too nervous and make the moment bigger than it actually is. I have to find a bit of a balance. I always succeeded better. Of course, you don’t always succeed, that is also part of athlete’s life. But the awareness that this is so has become more experience with me every year.

When you come to Mannheim as the then largest German handball talent, which then becomes a superstar in the four years: How can you use it as a person? How do you work with it?

First of all, of course, I personally don’t see myself that way. But on the other hand, of course, I notice what happened to me. In Minden I was a talent, sometimes still raw, with good approaches, but I also showed in many moments that something was still missing. I also had to know that on the hard tour here, especially in the first six months, when much did not go. What was created in the second year was for me in some moments was blatant for handball conditions. I also had to learn to deal with it.

On the other hand, I’m also grateful for. These are things that you somehow dream of as a child. And the positive and negative things are part of it. There is also a lot of pressure, a high expectation. In the meantime I come to a lot of halls and look into a lot of bright children’s eyes. That makes me proud and is one of the greatest things you can achieve as a athlete. What you used to feel as a child to see yourself today is cool.

Knorr: Aalborg is one of the largest club in the world

They go to Aalborg for the new season. What are the reasons?

The first reason is that it was a huge thing for me. This is one of the largest clubs in the world. He has been very far ahead in the Champions League in recent years, in the Danish championship. It’s a team peppered with world -class players, with idols of mine. This is simply a huge challenge that I really wanted to do. In addition, there was also the opportunity to gain these new experiences in a new country again, to learn a new language. And that paired back to the north, a little closer to my family. These are the main points that came together. The current phase of course also hurts a bit. There is melancholy and there is also a certain sadness that the four years are over with the lions, in Heidelberg – a beautiful city where we had a good time that we really enjoyed. That’s why it’s all intense now, but I still believe that it is right now and the right moment.

How did you develop in sports and human in the four years?

For me it always boils down to just get older. Accordingly, you also gain more experiences and learn things. You learn more about life. Some things come more often and you learn to deal with it. That’s how I feel in the sporting area. I may not be so cramped and dogged. I can see things a little more relaxed now. I will never lose this hunger. There was simply a better balance.

The same is also considered a person without handball. All of this is closely intertwined. I am far from being perfect. There are so many things that I still want to learn. Whether it is on the record, dealing with the referees, the handling of my teammates partially. There are many things, especially when it becomes emotionally that I am not proud of in quiet moments. I wonder why I can’t channel this, why I don’t stay more relaxed. Everyone probably has to accept how they are and what kind of character they have. I try to continue learning, to mature and be a better person.

How will the farewell to the lions in the home game against the Foxes (June 8)?

I can’t really imagine that yet. It is difficult to deal with it properly. For me it is currently still a process of saying goodbye. Expose from the apartment, regulate all things for the move, say goodbye to people. But you don’t really do it until it really has come and you are probably sitting in the car and driving north. You’re still in the season. You want to play as well as possible. We want to win the games, I want to do everything for it. Therefore there is little time for it.

In this process you are that you take care of everything and are also happy when you do things. But with everyone you are saying a step closer to the Bye. I am generally a person who sometimes hangs too much in the past. I am also glad that I have this property because it can very much value some things and take the time to reflect on things. There is always a little melancholy, so it hurts more.

But I don’t know exactly how it will be. I currently have the feeling that I want to knock everything in this last matchday against Berlin. I would like to experience what I have experienced here very often in front of a full hall, and enjoy that. And then maybe in the days or weeks afterwards I will realize a bit on vacation that it is really over now and what new starts.