With the European Championships right around the corner Joe Bestwick took the opportunity to shoot a few Quick-Fire questions at some of the guys who’ll be battling it out in Poland.
Part 1 // Mustafa Korkmaz (Netherlands) & Allon Dor-Onn (Israel)
Who will be your toughest opponent at the Euros and why?
Mustafa: “Great Britain, because they are the best team in world right now.”
Allon: “France will be the toughest opponent for us. I think as they’re our toughest rival to qualify for the top 8 stage.”
Name one coach/player/opponent who has shaped your career the most
Allon: “Ariel Ottolengi, my current national team coach. He gave me the right guidance at the right time.“
Mustafa: “Gertjan van der Linden, from watching him when I was younger, then as my coach, and then as head of the centralized Dutch programme. He’s still a mentor to me now even though he’s not my coach, just now the contact is less often of course.”
If you could be another player for a day who would it be and why?
Mustafa: “Patrick Anderson, he just has a complete game.”
Allon: “Matt Scott, because I want to feel that power and speed.”
Outside of your team’s goals, what are your personal goals for the European Championships?
Allon: “My goal is to lead my team to the top 8 stage and finish 5/6th position. Personal stats of 18/10/8 would be great but I dont really care about stats to be honest.”
Mustafa: “I want a medal. Fourth place the last two times wasn’t good enough. Personally I want to be a leader on and off court, finding the balance between scoring my own points and helping to create situations to help the young guys to develop and improve the team every day.”
Who is your most annoying teammate and why?
Mustafa: “Frank de Jong has shit jokes, but in a positive way.”
Allon: „Tomer Sason. He has this wild horse mentality. He is hard to tame or foresee what will happen next.”
Who’s going to win gold and who will be MVP?
Allon: “I think GB will get gold, and Phil Pratt will be the MVP.”
Mustafa: “I hope we win gold, and that a one of my teammates can win the MVP.”
Text & Interview: Joe Bestwick | Photos: Steffie Wunderl