Back from Vizela: Interview with Karel Molnar
12 Oct 2012 at 16:38 | Published by: Hans | Views: 16113 | News search
Karel Molnar in Vizela after breaking the world record (Photo by Jose Marinho 2012)
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Interview with Karel Molnar (KM),Czech Republic and SK Tempo Praha
This interview was done the 12th of October 2012. Interviewer is Hans Bergström (HB).
HB: First of all a big congratulation to your phenomenal results in Vizela. Have these successes and all the world records sunk in yet and you are back in normal life?
KM: Thank you for the congratulations, yes in this tournament our team played a great result and that’s the main reason why I manage to break the records.
Whether or not I am world record holder, I will still tomorrow morning, when my alarm goes off again, go to work as usual.
HB: Can you tell our readers a little bit on who is Karel Molnar?
KM: I am 25 years old and I work in a company Konica Minolta CZ as a service technician. Since 2007 I played for the German team Bochumer MC. But a month ago I moved to Tempo Praha. In junior levels I have been representing my country since 2001, and that’s where I gained valuable experience. On general class level I have been playing since 2003.
HB: Can you tell us firstly about the fabulous 19 lap. How did it feel when you were playing? Were you nervous in the end? Did you know it could be world record? Did players around you notice what was happening?
KM: Firstly, I must thank my teammates, without them I would not beeing able to play so well. I knew that to win a medal we needed every ace. In this round, they gathered a bit more than usual. I started with six aces after 6, and then I focused more and more.
I became a little nervous when my teammates from the group starting to slapping my hand - then I noticed that something strange starts to happen. Then on lane 14 I hit the first and only "2", but it was not so defensive shot, it just simply did not go into the hole. In my head I managed to think that I that I must do aces for my team to get a medal, so I was didn’t have so much time to thinking about records. We had a really tight match for the bronze and because of this it was easier for me to reach this record.
HB: Also you broke another 4 records (3, 4, 6 and 8 rounds) in Vizela. Was this the tournament of your life so far?
KM: It was definitely the best tournament of my life! It was perfect surroundings and a really good team to play in. I played the best results in my life and all targets were met. Primarily target was of course a medal in the team competition.
HB: And your team Tempo Praha became third in a tight fight with the Italians. How big was this medal for your team?
KM: It was the main goal of the tournament. I was afraid that we would not make it. Czech players often have a bad feature in sport – they could make really good tournaments but in the end of tournament, when it really matters, they often fail mentally. But we did fail this time and we rewrote the history. I'm very proud of the whole team.
HB: There has been some fuzz on Facebook after the tournament about your team using an un-allowed ball on lane 13. Do you have any comments on that?
KM: After the measurement done on the last lap, the ball has proved to be too large. But the measurement gauge used seemed very old and unreliable and didn’t have any certification. Important for our team was that the ball was purchased from licensed reseller, so we had no possibility to know or suspect that it was outside the rules.
HB: You changed back from German Bundesliga to SK Tempo Praha for this season. Can you tell us the main reason for this?
KM: In the last season we had some problems to get enough people for our team and also I had some problems finding the right motivation. Transfer to Tempo Prague had been for me meant a huge motivation boost which made me began to practice more and more to now I look forward to play again.
HB: You and the Czech full national team haven’t been playing in International Championships this year in Porto. Can you tell us why this is so?
KM: The main reason is that we have financial problem is in our national association, which means that each player must pay all costs (approx. € 1,400). Even though we planned to go as a team, but in the end one key player could not go due to his work. Then I did not want to pay this high costs when the team was incomplete.
HB: Last year in Stockholm the Czech team was 6th and you were 18th individual. Then you had to meet your fellow Czech Marian Strasko in the first match of the cup and lost. Was this tournament a disappointment for you?
KM: It was not a disappointment, on the contrary, as a team we have proved that we can play good results even if we didn’t have the strongest team that we could have had. Of course, I regret that I have fallen in KO so soon, but that's the nature of KO.
HB: Do you think that the current modus with team play, stroke play and match play in the international tournaments is a good one?
KM: I think the most important thing is the team competition. But it is interesting to have two champions. KO is more attractive for the spectators, but much more prestigious to me is the stroke play.
HB: What happens next for you in Minigolf?
KM: Now follows the winter break for me where I want to improve my fitness in order to make better results next year. In January-February I will start training intensively in an indoor hall with Felt and Eternit. In the next year, we (Praha) want to defend our Czech championship title, where we are currently 2 points from the lead.
HB: Will we see you and the Czech team in the next year’s Championship in Bad Munder?
KM: Yes, we plan to come with strong male and female team.
HB: If you could choose one international (non-German) player to play for you club SK Tempo Praha who would that be?
KM: Carl-Johan Ryner - I admire his clean playing style ...
HB: Thank you for taking this interview and good luck in the future!
KM: Thank you, and thank you especially for all the congratulations.
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