Vicente Grau Juan (born 6 April 1968 in

València Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also ...

) is a professional

Valencian pilota Valencian pilota ( ca-valencia, pilota valenciana "Valencian ball") is a traditional handball sport played in the Valencian Community. Its origins are not known. Rules variations within the generic ''Pilota Valenciana'' category are frequent fr ...

player known as Grau. He plays mainly

Escala i corda Escala i corda (, "stairs and rope") is the most prestigious variant of Valencian pilota, and the only one apart from raspall to have professional players. History The "Escala i corda" variant began around 1910, when the player Nel de Murla se ...

matches and is one of the best ''mitgers'' (midfield) playing for the

ValNet ValNet is an association of Valencian pilota professional players. In 2005 the retired ''pilotaris'' Alfred Hernando ( ''Fredi''), Daniel Ribera ( ''Ribera II'') and the trinquet owner Emili Peris, joined to create a brand new company that profes ...

company, due to his fast and strong ball-strikes (''bot-de-braç'' and ''volea''), he has been the first ''mitger'' who won the

Trofeu Individual Bancaixa The Trofeu Individual Bancaixa () "Bancaixa one-on-one trophy") is the Escala i corda singles league played by Valencian pilota professionals and promoted by the Bancaixa bank. Statistics {{clear Relevant facts about the ''Trofeu Individual ...

, a competition for ''dauers''. He has been a recurrent member of the

Valencian Pilota Squad The Valencian Pilota Squad are the Valencian pilota professional or amateur players chosen to take part in the Handball International Championships representing Spain, even though all of them are Valencians and they use the Valencian flag This is ...

, attaining many prizes, specially the "World's best player" twice.

Trophies

* Winner of the Campionat Professional de Galotxa 1990 and 1991 * Winner of the Campionat Nacional d'Escala i Corda 1993 * Runner-up of the Campionat Nacional d'Escala i Corda 1991 * Winner of the

2000 * Runner-up of the Trofeu Individual Bancaixa 1996 and 1997

Handball International Championships The Handball International Championships are yearly held competitions where many countries and regions play the handball sports derived from the Jeu de paume. It is organized by the International Ball game Confederation, and there are three offici ...

* Winner of the 5 Nations

Llargues Llargues (, "long ones") is the oldest Valencian pilota modality. It is played on the streets, where two teams formed by 3, 4 or 5 players throw each other the ball with the hand try to surpass an imaginary line which changes every game. There ar ...

Championship,

1993 * Winner of the European

Championship,

Imperia Imperia (; lij, Inpêia or ) is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the Regions of Italy, region of Liguria, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Imperia, and historically it was capital of the ''Intemelia'' district of Liguria. Benito Muss ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

) 1999 * Winner of the Llargues World Championship, València 1996 * Winner of the Llargues World Championship,

Maubeuge Maubeuge (; historical nl, Mabuse or nl, Malbode; pcd, Maubeuche) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on both banks of the Sambre (here canalized), east of Valenciennes and about from the Belgian border ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) 1998 * Winner of the Llargues World Championship, València 2000 * Winner of the

International game The International game ( ca-valencia, joc internacional, ) is a ball game that is related to many sports derived from and similar to Jeu de paume. It is played in the Handball International Championships by teams from the Americas and Europe. Hi ...

World Championship,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

2001 * Runner-up of the Llargues European Championship, Netherlands 2001 * Best World player, Maubeuge (France) 1998 * Best World player, Imperia (Italy) 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grau Juan, Vicente 1968 births Living people Sportspeople from Valencia Pilotaris from the Valencian Community