Rot-Weiss Köln star Timur Oruz has called time on his German international career for professional reasons following a stellar life with the Honamas team.
Oruz was a key member of the panel who won last year’s World Cup, European silver in 2021 and Olympic bronze in 2016 in Rio.
He will continue to play at club level with Rot-Weiss as he looks to add to an already glittering medal collection which includes EHL gold in 2017 and three silver medals (2019, 2022 and 2023).
His career that is not defined simply by those achievements. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a child but has overcome that scenario to become an ambassador and teaches young people in lectures and workshops that this disease does not mean you cannot play sport.
He is also now starting up how own business which ultimately has meant a change in focus, making the decision to step away with a heavy heart.
“This decision was – especially at this point in time – one of the hardest of my life,” he said. “Although there were two outstanding options to choose from, that didn’t necessarily make the process any easier.
“I have had the honour of playing for the Honamas since 2014. It was clear that one day it would be incredibly difficult for me to say goodbye. At the same time, a new door has opened for me professionally that I just have to walk through. It has become more and more clear that it is time to take a new path.”
Prior to his international debut, he also won the Junior World Cup in 2013 under the tutelage of André Henning, the coach who he worked with extensively at Rot-Weiss and then with Germany.
Henning said goodbye to his protégé with a tear in his eye, saying: “Timur is certainly influenced by his diabetes diagnosis. Everyone told him that competitive sports weren’t possible.
“And if someone tells him it can’t be done, he’ll try even harder. Timur has an irrepressible will, can be stubborn in the most positive sense and also resilient.
“He is a role model for many children with and without illnesses that limits and boundaries can be pushed.
“As a player, we are losing a driver who got everything out of himself, his body and his career. I know that he was feared by many opponents and we would have liked to have gone to Paris with him.
“At the same time, his career prospects are of course a unique and huge opportunity that he should definitely seize. I’m very happy for him that he will now be able to use his great skills in other fields.”
