Zurab Talakvadze

Georgian handball is on a rise. National Team will compete in 2026 EHF European Men’s Handball Championship. This huge event will be hosted by Denmark, Norway and Sweden from January 15th to February 1st 2026.

Georgia will wrestle against Sweden, Croatia and Netherlands. One of the toughest groups. The real challenge, that will give our squad much needed experience on the international level.

Teimuraz Orjonikidze is one of the irreplaseable  players for Georgia. A team captain. A left back with grit and talent. A vocal force. Teimuraz was injured in the last game of the qualification round and is questionable for the upcoming event.

A family guy. A husband and a father of a little angel and family helps him to stay motivated and to remain as a leader of the NT. A guy, who hails Cristiano Ronaldo as his favorite sportsmen and Nikola Karabatic as the best in handball. Russell Crowe remains his favorite actor, and take a wild guess at his top film? You have got correct answer: The Gladiator. 

A member of Macedonian side HC Ohrid. His father, Beqa Orjonikidze was a NT player as well. A main inspiration for Teimuraz, his best mentor, his coach, a best advisor.

The Season for the National Team.

Teimuraz Orjonikidze: I guess, this was probably, the best season so far for our NT. We lacked stability while playing in away games, and this qualification round showed, that we are capable of having good results in some needed away games as well. We beat Bosnia, almost beat Greece. Those games helped us to gain some confidence in must win home games, in front of our fans as well. We became more confident.

What to expect at European Championship.

Teimuraz Orjonikidze: Two teams qualify to the next round. We are facing great, experienced, medal bound teams in Sweden and Croatia. A win against Netherlands is not a given, but the goal to achieve. So, we will see what happens next.

A common management.

Teimuraz Orjonikidze: Players and coaches do their respective job, but this success is impossible without the correct, common management, that helped us a lot.  A new management team is taking care of Georgian handball and results are encouraging. Naturally, it gave us a better chance to concentrate only on our basic job, while organizational wise, every small detail, every small peace is at a place it needs to be. This is very important. Handball is coming back strong in Georgia.

9 500 fans in the last game.

Teimuraz Orjonikidze: Well, what can I say? Immense, huge support from our fans, that helps team a lot. In every way. For me, that was a pure magic, the way it should have been. I think, our team deserved that support and we gave our all to fans, that always stood by us. We expected some big support, but this number was overwhelming, sensational, very warm and decisive. When our fans start to sing, when they are fully in, that is when you feel pride and with that comes glory. I was very sad, that injury prevented me from playing the game ‘till the end and I am not sure, if I will be lucky enough to participate in the EC. Let the time tell.