EDENFIELD’S Ciaran Williams has been included in the 14-strong Great Britain men’s handball team to compete at the London Olympics.

The 24-year-old’s selection follows hard on the heels of the inclusion of Bury’s Kathryn Fudge in the women’s team, as reported in last week’s Bury Times.

Williams plays for Salford in the English Men’s Handball League and is currently at a training camp in Serbia preparing for the competition.

Both the men’s and the women’s event will follow the same format with 12 teams split into two groups of six with the top four in each group qualifying for the quarter-finals following the first round of matches.

Playmaker Williams and his squad-mates will be up against Israel, Argentina, Sweden, Tunisia and France in Pool A, while Fudge and company will face Montenegro, Russia, Angola, Croatia and Brazil.

Former Tottington High School pupil Fudge, aged 22, who has been with the women’s squad based at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre for the past 14 months, told of her delight at being selected this week.

Fudge, who plays at left-back in the seven-a-side, sport describes handball as a cross between basketball and football.

But it is not for the faint-hearted.

She frequently finishes matches covered in bruises, as it is very much a contact sport.

Unlike football, roll on, roll off substitutes are allowed throughout matches so Fudge and Williams are nailed on to get some action “It helps that I am just over 6ft tall,” said Fudge, who was drafted into the GB set up after impressing in Denmark and Norway where she went to play handball immediately after leaving Holy Cross College.

But with less than a month to go now before the start of the Games, she is starting to see the excitement as she moves around the capital betwen training sessions.

“When you go into central London, you can see the excitement building,” she said. “I was so happy to be named among the final 14, and I can’t wait for the matches to start.

“Our objective is to put handball on the map and leave a legacy for the progression of the sport after the Olympics.”

Fudge’s first outing for Great Britain is against Montenegro on Saturday, July 28, in handball’s Olympic venue, known as the Copper Box, starting at 7.30pm.

Meanwhile, Williams and his team-mates get their campaign under way when they face France at the same venue on Sunday, July 29, starting at 7.30pm.

On his Twitter account, Williams said yesterday: “So proud and honoured to announce I have been selected to be part of Team GB Men’s Handball Team at the 2012 London Olympic Games!

“Thank you to everyone who has helped me get here, with their support, help and belief... Means the world to me!”

Williams, the son of handball playing parents, started playing for Salford’s senior team when he was 16 and in 2006 was selected for the World Class Handball Programme and moved to Denmark.

He played there for two-and-a-half years before gaining his first contract with Tesum Essen in the German Bundesliga.

Williams returned to Denmark for a season and then to Norway’s First Division before coming back to Salford.

After the Olympics, he is intending to play in one of Europe’s top leagues.