Iran’s Fatemeh Merikhi Steals the Show in World Championship
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Fatemeh Merikhi has been one of the players to watch in the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship. Not only that she scored the largest amount of goals in the competition (28), she was also a provider, earning five assists in the first three games in the preliminary round.
“I was thinking about being the top player on the court, but, most importantly, Iran winning as many matches as possible was the objective for myself and for the whole team here, in North Macedonia,” Merikhi told ihf.info.
“Personally, my objective was to play good and be the best player on the court in every game, especially against European sides, who are dominating the competition. I really dreamt of this moment, to represent my country, and I will not lie, I really knew in my bones that I can score many goals. I almost predicted it,” she said.
Her summer has been nothing short of amazing, as this is the second major tournament she takes part in over the last month. The left back was also selected for the 2022 IHF Women’s Junior World Championship, where she was Iran’s top scorer with 38 goals, finishing in 19th place overall in the top scorer standings.
“The Junior World Championship was a very good experience for me and even though we didn't get a good result, it really helped us. For myself, it really helped me develop, learn some very important things against good opponents, so I am very happy that I could be part of the team,” adds the 17-year-old Iran player.
“I totally fell in love with handball after I saw some games from the national team. I started in the second league in Iran and later, I was able to go to higher category competitions. Being selected for the national team really made everything worth it.
“The coaches of the national team worked hard with me. I remember that no one knew me in our league, but later they recognized me in the Asian Games and now at the Junior and Youth World Championships,” added Merikhi.
Scoring 67 goals in 10 games at the IHF Women’s Junior and IHF Women’s Youth World Championship is no easy feature for a player, especially when her team is playing for the first time in the two competitions.