Koppang’s Hair-Pulling Incident in Handball WC

Nina Koppang was about to be free in the World Cup opener against the Czech Republic.

Then she was pulled by the hair(!).

Now the right-hander is thinking about changing his hairstyle for the next match.

Nina Koppang had a tough debut in the handball World Cup against the Czech Republic.

Högernian, who is making her fourth championship but the first as number one at her position, had a hard time finding the right shooting, burning her first five chances before finding the right in the final minutes with two goals. She was responsible for a couple of technical fouls as well and incurred a sending off.

– I felt that I got into good positions so it was extremely frustrating not to put them there. I get to look at some shot patterns here now. But the most important thing was that we won today and so there are a few things to work on, she says after the victory with 31–23 (17–13).

Shot on the nose

But above all, Koppang went on a couple of real hits physically.

First, she got a hard shot right on the nose after a quarter of an hour and had to be bandaged up and rest on the bench for five minutes.

– The nose is okay. And when Bundsen (Johanna, the goalkeeper) said it was a good block, I was happy, says Koppang with a smile.

When the 23-year-old then came back in, she was on her way through the Czech defense when Julie Frankova stopped her by pulling her ponytail(!).

– It has probably happened sometime before, but perhaps not as badly as today. It is difficult to follow through on the situation when you are being pulled by the hair. She came and said sorry afterwards. That’s what happens. It didn’t hurt a lot, but I was mostly annoyed that I knew how difficult it would be after the match to remove the glue from my hair. It is a process, says Koppang.

Could be “bun” on Saturday

– The funny thing was that I talked to Idéhn (Filippa, the national team’s second goalkeeper) before the match and said that I might drive with “bulle” today. But then I decided to go with a tassel. Typical that it happened then.

Will there be a “bunch” against Cuba on Saturday then?

– If I find some needles then… I have never played with “bun”. We’ll see. There is talk about it.

So it could be a “hairstyle change in the World Cup after the pull in the ponytail”?

– Yes, it can be. Or I save it.

Just a few minutes after she was dragged by the hair, Koppang was pushed in the air and appeared to land badly. But she got up quickly.

– It felt like it came from all sides today, she says.