Fortuna favourites, big gap behind the top four: the podcast looks ahead
Fortuna, PKC, DVO and LDODK will decide the Korfbal League play-offs among themselves, according to the guests in the first episode of the new season of De Korfbal Podcast.
Automatically translated from Dutch. Read the Dutch original.
- Van den Bos and Van Maldeghem see the same four play-off teams.
- Van den Bos and Jonker pick Fortuna as champion.
- According to Van den Bos and Jonker, DeetosSnel will have the hardest time.
Stand-in presenter Jacco van den Boogaart spoke with Wilco van den Bos, national coach of Germany, top korfball coach John Jonker and Belgian international Lise van Maldeghem. She played for PKC for years and is now back at Voorwaarts.
Van den Bos puts Fortuna at the top, followed by PKC, DVO and LDODK. "And then there is a very big gap and then comes KZ", he said. According to Jonker, KZ has not improved. Van Maldeghem expects no surprises in the top four.
Fortuna for the title
For the title, Van den Bos and Jonker chose Fortuna. "As far as I'm concerned, Fortuna has the best team", said Van den Bos, with the caveat that the best team does not always win at the decisive moment. He called DVO an outsider; according to him, LDODK will not reach the final.
Van Maldeghem goes for PKC or Fortuna. She pointed to Rosalie Peet, who moved from DVO to PKC. Jonker puts a question mark over the departure of coach Damien Folkerts from Fortuna.
Battle at the bottom
At the bottom, Jonker expects a battle between four teams. Van den Bos sees DeetosSnel finishing last, Jonker agrees, but points to the experienced coaches of the promoted side. Van Maldeghem named Shane Buckland of DeetosSnel as a player to watch. Van den Bos likes watching him.
For Jonker and Van Maldeghem, DOS '46 is the team that can surprise. Jonker named Eline van Veldhuijsen, who is fit again after a serious injury. According to him, promoted side TOP will have a hard time.
Korfbal League 2 and the European Championship
In the Korfbal League 2, Groen-Geel is Jonker's favourite, with coach Henk Jan Mulder. Van den Bos thinks HKC will take the title this time. Van Maldeghem mainly follows HKC, where Lisa van Gorp moved to.
Van den Bos and Jonker were critical of the European Championship: there was little excitement. "The Netherlands and Belgium are simply too good for everyone else", said Van den Bos. Van Maldeghem called it a tournament for Belgium to grow with a new group. According to her, for many Belgian internationals playing in the Netherlands cannot be combined with work and home life.
For round 1, Van den Bos tipped DVO against DOS '46, Van Maldeghem PKC against KZ and, with doubts, Dalto at TOP, and Jonker Fortuna against Unitas and LDODK against DeetosSnel. The season starts on Friday 6 November at 20:30 with DVO - DOS '46. You can listen to the full episode at korfbalinc.nl/podcast.