“I want to become the Michael Jordan of handball,” says Austria’s Nikola Bilyk.
The EHF Champions League record champions Barcelona rely on force of a Nikola already – the three-time world champion Karabatic, who was close to getting a namesake in his team.
Although being two years younger than most of the other players, Nikola Bilyk was the superstar of the U20 European Championship held in his home country Austria last summer. He was named MVP, top scorer and the best centre back of the tournament.
“I had some fun playing but my focus was not on my individual performance. Instead I tried to work very hard for the team. It was not just like sitting in my room and dreaming of becoming MVP or top scorer. It was about doing the best for my team and getting a good result. These awards are a consequence of hard work and it was nice to win them all,” says the Austrian youngster.
Bilyk barely got a chance to rest after his seven tremendous matches, scoring 55 goals in total, as European top clubs started to approach him, offering him play in their team for the upcoming years. FC Barcelona was only one among many, but Bilyk did not choose any of them. He chose to remain at his Viennese handball club Fivers WAT Margareten, where he has been since his first steps in handball.
“I was just a little kid trying different sports like football or basketball. A few years later I took the decision to go to a handball training session, and it was fantastic to be there. Especially because prior to going to the training session I had only seen my father playing,” added Nikola – current number eight in the HLA league top scorer’s list with 96 goals in 18 matches.
Despite turning 44 last September, his father Sergiy Bilyk has been the long-time Fivers’ goalkeeper in HLA league games, together with youngster Kristian Pilipovic, Nikola’s roommate at U21 national team gatherings.
“This is great, not everybody gets the chance to play together with his father. It’s a good feeling to be on the same court as him,” said Bilyk junior, who continues to answer why he rejected the offers from European top teams.
“It was such a tough decision because as a child you want to play for teams like these. But I still go to school and want to finish it first. After that my door is open to the right decision, to go my way and be happy.”
High-class performances both in the domestic league and in “Team 94” (Austrian U21 national team) did not only get the attention of big clubs but also of senior team head coach Patrekur Johannesson. The Icelander stated that he knew that there was something special in Bilyk immediately after arriving to Austria in 2011.
Four years later and only six months after claiming all of the awards at U20 European Championship, their biggest handball talent is not just a member of senior national team, but has also earned his spot in the starting line-up.
“I would not say that I expected to receive an invitation to the Austrian squad going to Doha, but I have trained hard and put in so much time just to play handball. This is my life and I knew that it was possible to have a chance. So now I am overly happy to finally be here,” added the youngest player of the World Championship in Qatar.
Though unexperienced, Bilyk has already stood out. According to coach Johannesson, Bilyk was one of the best Austrian players in the preparation match against France and the game against Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Nikola stated to be proud to be able to succeed big Austrian names like Szilagyi, Marinovic, Weber and Ziura, as all of them are his idols.
“I want to become the Michael Jordan of handball. This is my biggest goal and I will do everything to become one of the best players in the world,” concluded Bilyk enthusiastically.
