Lightning interview from Tokyo with Kentin Mahé

Four of our players are still in action in the semi-finals of the Olympics. We have a short interview for the fans, with our French playmaker, Kentin Mahé.

Hi Kentin, we would like to congratulate on your Olympics campaign and your impressive performances.

How is everything in Japan?

It's a great honour to reach the semi-finals, it is every handballers' dream to get here. Of course I am over the moon and proud of the fact that I'm here; it's always a pleasure and privilige to represent your nation, especially on this high level.

 

Thank you, I'm feeling good, both mentally and physically. I'm healthy and concentrated. Our schedule is a bit tight, we are all tied up with interviews, trainings, matches and different programs, but I'm enjoying every second of it. I hope I can continue to help my team in the upcoming fixtures.

 

 

One of the main characteristics of the French team, is that we can share our duties, the pressure and the minutes as well. We can rely on each other as a team and lean on each other in difficult moments. This is our biggest strength, which we hope will carry us through the finish line. We were very humble and focused against Bahrein; as I've said it is an honour to reach the semi-finals by winning against such a focused side, which improved a lot in recent years.

 

 

The events are running very smoothly, the Japaneese are doing everything they can to make sure we're safe and comfortable in every aspect. PCR tests are regular, fortunately we haven't heard of any positive cases so we can fully focus on handball. The Japaneese have kept true to their nature, as the organization is on point and professional, I could only describe it using superlatives. This is a magnificent country, where culture and sport have blossomed together. As we're travelling back and forth from location to location, we're seeing a lot of the scenery, however our main focus is always the next fixture.

 

Like I said, this is all we're focusing on. On Thursday, we're playing against the winner of the Germany-Egypt fixture (Egypt won 31-26 edited), naturally I'm expecting a tough game. Germany has a number of quality players, while Egypt is once again, having an amazing tournament. We're paying close attention to their to their games, tactics and I've also been watching Yahia very closely; we've spoken quite a few times while we've been here.

 

Thank you and greetings to everyone at home, I wish you all the best as well!