MOL is building an iconic handball club in Esztergom

Péter Pantlthe communications director of the MOL Group, announced at the press conference at the MOL Campus in Budapest that was connected with the jersey presentation: the company will be the title sponsor of the Esztergom handball team. Together, we will build an iconic team that will define the women’s NB I field in the long term. Gábor Elek was a perfect choice, under his leadership professional work began, the results of which are visible he explained. He mentioned that handball is one of the most popular sports not only in Hungary, but also in the region, second only to football. MOL looks back on more than 15 years of history in sports, supports the Hungarian federation, the national team, club teams, the men’s Champions League and is also present in sports in neighboring countries. MOL sponsored the 2022 men’s European Championship – which was co-hosted by Hungary – and this year’s women’s continental competition, which is also partly held in Hungary, will be one of the main sponsors.

“Until now, the strange thing was that we didn’t have a women’s handball team, now we have that too,” he added. He recalled that an important aspect of supporting the Tatabánya men’s team was that it included Hungarian players who would even play a role in the national team in the future.

Let the new Arena be full

András Ligetithe managing director of the Esztergom Handball Club said: when a club contracts him Gábor Elek and Zita Sucsánszki, you can’t say that you don’t expect professional success. “However, the fact that it arrived so quickly was also new for us. And the fact that Hungary’s largest company stands by our club is a huge opportunity that we have to take advantage of, and on the other hand, it is also a huge responsibility,” he stated.

We handed over a five-hundred-person hall, which was a great debt to the city not only for handball, but also for mass sports. We were able to expand the stands to 634 people, we are working on increasing this even further” – he revealed. He pointed out that the city will have a team at the forefront of women’s handball for the second time: Esztergom KSE spent three and a half seasons in NB I from 2001, then withdrew in February 2005.

The team’s future shirts (Photo: Esztergom Handball)

Gábor Elek head coach recalled: under the leadership of László Laurencz, the old team from Esztergom finished fifth in the league, they also have a great desire to achieve this in time. However, they do not want to achieve this by haste, but by conscious construction.

“It’s not always a good idea to skip steps in construction, we’ve seen examples of this in world sports, especially football, and we don’t want to follow this path.” We managed to strengthen this team in such a way that there is a good chance that we can stay in the first division. What we dream about between us should remain our secret – explained Elek, who was professional director last year, and this year he is managing the club as head coach, and as he revealed, he enjoys his time here. He thanked MOL for seeing fantasy in them, and at the same time promised that they would try to repay the support.

Zita Szucsánszki is a player and a fitness coach (Photo: Esztergom Handball)

“I am most proud of how, even at Ferencváros, we never had a year when transfers worked so efficiently, very few players said no,” he revealed, encouraging everyone to check out the city and attend their match.

MOL Esztergom will play against Kisvárda next Saturday on their home field, in the Suzuki Arena in Esztergom. On the second of November, they will play as a guest of the defending champions of the Champions League, Győr, and then on Elek’s birthday, on November 5, they will host the head coach’s former club, last season’s champion and cup winner Ferencváros. Szucsánszki helps the team both as a player and as a fitness coach. He revealed: he still has a lot to learn, but he really enjoys this process. “I feel that we are on the right track,” he stated.

Anett Kisfaludy highlighted: Elek’s personality was the deciding factor in the Esztergomba contract, he really liked the outlined vision of the future. He explained that it is difficult to put together a team with a lot of new players, but they worked hard on it. “Everyone is trying to improve as much as possible and as quickly as possible, everyone puts a lot of effort into it,” emphasized the team captain.

Cover photo: Luter Márk/Kemma.hu