Handball a "gentle" pursuit? Bring on the ice packs

By Sophie Hardach

BEIJING (Reuters) - Watching handballers clash mid-air, jostle and collapse in a tangle of arms and legs, it is hard to imagine that the sport was originally invented as a gentle alternative to football.

About a century ago, German Max Heiser drew up a set of rules for a game that was meant to give women the chance to run around the pitch and score goals, without the roughness of a football match.

That idea somehow got lost on the way to the Beijing Olympics.

"It's a hard game, a game for men," said Polish player Bartosz Jurecki on Friday after a match against Korea during which he collided with jumping opponents and crashed to the ground.

"For handball, that's normal. It's not like volleyball or basketball, where everything is a foul. For us, that's great. I love it," he told Reuters with a broad grin.

Poland are one of the physically strongest sides, although that did not help them in the quarter-final against the equally hulking Icelandic team. Poland lost, while Iceland shot through to the semi-finals.

Not that the women are any more gentle.

In the women's semi-finals on Thursday, Hungarian left wing Orsolya Verten limped off the pitch with a leg injury, while her team-mate Gabriella Szucz wrapped herself around Russian top scorer Irina Bliznova's neck.

Body contact is part of the game as the defenders try to block the other side's attackers. Pouncing on another player from the side or the back is illegal, but a full frontal clash is considered a good way of defending the goal.

Restraining and pushing an opponent is technically not allowed, but using the body to obstruct an opponent is -- creating an interesting grey zone that players fully exploit.

No wonder Norwegian left back Katja Nyberg was not planning a big night out to celebrate her team's victory over South Korea in the semi-finals.

"I will lie on my back on my bed with ice all over my body," she told reporters when asked about her party plans.