Father and daughter in the same national team are not the norm. But when the national handball team is chasing a WC medal, Tyra Axnér’s long-range shooting is one of father Tomas’ important tools.
She is still without a goal in the World Cup tournament, but was only on the pitch for 51 seconds in the opening two games. Against Croatia, there was more playing time, but none of the three shots went in.
– She has shot a little “stingily”. There is plenty of room to shoot lower. But you just have to keep going, as a shooter you must not have doubts, says Tomas Axnér, who has long been a well-known face in Swedish handball, as a player, coach and expert commentator on television.
He’s used to it in giving advice to her daughter and she is used to being asked questions about the relationship with her father. There have been people who have insinuated that she was given advantages because of her last name, for example when he coached Lugi and let her debut in the A team at the age of 17.
It is clear that it is a different situation and nothing that I have been able to prepare for.
Tyra says that she did not attach any importance to that talk and after the success in last year’s EC when she came on as a championship debutant against Denmark and scored nine goals in the second half, there is hardly anyone who questions her place in the WC squad.
– I play in one of the best leagues and the fact that I am here is because I have performed in the club team for a longer period, says Tyra, on weekdays in the Danish Nykøbing Falster.
The 21-year-old says that in the national team her and Toma’s relationship changes and she doesn’t feel like it’s a parent telling her how to act.
– When we are here, he does his job and I do mine. Here he is the national team captain and not my father. It’s clear that it’s a different situation and nothing that I’ve been able to prepare for, but I think we’ve found good tools to communicate what went well and not so well, says Tyra.
She is born in Germany, during the time Dad played in the German league for GWD Minden.
Tyra believes she inherited the stubbornness from her French mother Gaëlle and the winning instinct from her father. But while left-handed Tomas Axnér played right six, the daughter is a feared right-handed shooter from the left nine position.
Tyra Axnér practices extra hard on her shot, but she believes the technique is innate. Photo: Veronika Ljung-Nielsen
The long shot has been her strength since she started playing.
– My shooting technique is something I’ve always had and I guess it’s innate. No one ever told me you should do this. Then it’s clear that I shoot a lot extra after training, she says.
Tyra Axnér thinks return to Denmark before the WC is over. The final is decided in Herning, where she lived during the years she played for Ikast. If Sweden had the audience with them in Gothenburg, she knows that it will be different in the end game if the opponent is called Denmark.
– It will be a very special atmosphere and we will have an extra opponent against us, says Tyra Axnér.
But if there is to be a playoff, Sweden must continue to win during the intermediate round, where Cameroon, who have zero points from the group stage, are the first opponent on Thursday evening. Then Tyra Axnér hopes to break the deadlock.
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2023-12-06 14:55:10
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