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Lars Balk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈlɑrz ˈbɑl(ə)k]; born 26 February 1996) is a Dutch professional field hockey player who plays as a defender or midfielder for Kampong and the Dutch national team.[1]

Club career

Balk started playing hockey at the age of five at his local hockey club MHC Vianen.[2] When he was 12 years old and wanted to play on a higher level, he switched to Kampong.[2] He made his debut for the first team of Kampong when he was 17 years old.[3] Balk played in all four matches in the 2014–15 Euro Hockey League, where they were eliminated in the quarter-final. In his second Euro Hockey League, they reached the final and won the tournament.[citation needed]

International career

Before Balk made his debut for the outdoor senior team, he played for the indoor team in the 2015 Indoor World Cup, where they won the gold medal.[4] He made his debut for the senior national team in January 2016 in a test match against Argentina.[5] After he was not selected in the 2017 EuroHockey Championship squad for the senior team, he played in the 2017 EuroHockey Junior Championship.[6] Balk played in all seven matches in the 2018 World Cup and scored one goal. They eventually reached the final, where they lost to Belgium.[7] In June 2019, he was selected in the Netherlands squad for the 2019 EuroHockey Championship.[8] They won the bronze medal by defeating Germany 4–0.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Lars Balk". hockey.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Lars Balk in hockeyselectie van Oranje". www.hetkontakt.nl (in Dutch). Het Kontakt. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  3. ^ Collewijn, Sander (9 November 2018). "Lars Balk: de mug, het on-Nederlandse klootzakje van Oranje". hockey.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  4. ^ "BALK Lars". tms.fih.ch. International Hockey Federation. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  5. ^ "BALK Lars". tms.fih.ch. International Hockey Federation. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  6. ^ "Alexander Cox maakt EK-selectie Jong Oranje Heren bekend". hockey.nl (in Dutch). 30 July 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  7. ^ "Belgium's Red Lions win Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018". FIH. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  8. ^ "Selectie Heren EK Hockey 2019 bekend". www.knhb.nl (in Dutch). Koninklijke Nederlandse Hockey Bond. 29 July 2019. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Hockeyers verslaan Duitsland weer en pakken brons". www.ad.nl (in Dutch). Algemeen Dagblad. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
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