All-star Team nominees profiles - part 2Article
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ALL-STAR TEAM: Profiles of the nominees for the Women's EHF Champions League 2018/19 All-star Team in the categories: right backs, right wings, defenders, young players and coaches.

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All-star Team nominees profiles - part 2

Before voting, take a closer look at the nominees in the categories: right backs, right wings, defenders, young players and coaches.

RIGHT BACKS

Mette Tranborg (DEN) - Odense HC

joined from dissolved SK Aarhus in the summer of 2017

was the first female player to get dispensation to play in the Danish league at age 16

has become a regular force in the Danish national team

at 1.92 metre, she benefits a lot from her height, but also from a considerable variety of hard left-hand shots

 


Anna Vyakhireva (RUS) - Rostov-Don

joined Rostov from Astrakhanochka in 2016; won the Russian league with both Astrakhanochka in 2016 and Rostov in 2017 and 2018

plays alongside her sister Polina Kuznetsova, who joined Rostov from Vardar before the 2018/19 season

2016 Olympic gold medallist and MVP of the tournament, MVP of the EURO 2018

 



Ana Gros (SLO) - Brest Bretagne Handball

after playing for Györ, Krim, THC and Metz, joined Brest in the summer of 2018

reached CL Final with Györ in 2012, and made it to the quarter-finals with Metz in the last two seasons

despite being approached by many important clubs around Europe, decided to stay in France, a country she calls “her second home”

had her most productive CL season in 2016/17, with 84 goals



Lamprini Tsakalou (GRE) - RK Krim Mercator

before Krim she never played in EHFCL, her former clubs in Greece were Nea Ionia and Anagennisi Arta 

scored her first CL goal only in 2017/18, but was expected to become one of leaders for Krim this season

second Greece-born player to play in Krim after Elisabeth Omoregie

like Omoregie also Tsakalou has family roots in Africa, her grandmother comes from Congo

 


Linn Jorum Sulland (NOR) - Vipers Kristiansand

• arrived in Vipers in the summer of 2016 after stops at Stabæk, Larvik and Györ

• in 2005/06 the best player of the domestic league and also was the top scorer

• reached the 500-goal plateau in the national team

• top scorer of the European Beach Handball Championship in 2007

 

 

RIGHT WINGS

Iuliia Managarova (RUS) - Rostov-Don

moved to Rostov in 2013 and quickly became one of the fan favourites

quiet and humble off the court, but a natural leader in the game with a powerful shot and great scoring abilities

played for Ukraine but changed citizenship to Russian in 2017

was domestic champion in three different countries: in Ukraine with Smart Krivy Rog, in Romania with Oltchim, and in Russia with Rostov-Don



Jovanka Radicevic (MNE) - CSM Bucuresti

• as a daughter of a handball player she started playing handball at 12 in Podgorica

• most capped and top scorer (over 750 goals) for Montenegro

• all-star right wing at EURO 2012, WCh 2015, CL 2014 and 2016

• has been a regular with Europe’s top clubs, enjoying spells with Buducnost, Györ and Vardar before joining CSM Bucuresti



Laura Flippes (FRA) - Metz Handball

• aged 24, she played all her professional career in Metz

• able to play on the wing but also on the backcourt

• when she lacked confidence a couple of years ago, she went to a mental preparator, who’s been following her until now

• with Pauline Coatanea (Brest), she’s the future of the wings for France

 


Malin Aune (NOR) - Vipers Kristiansand

joined Vipers from Oppsal in the summer of 2017

her greatest triumph so far was winning the gold medal with the Norwegian national team at EHF EURO 2016

only 1.65 m tall, but her speed, technical skills and willpower sufficiently compensate

 

 


Viktoria Lukacs (HUN) - FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria

Budapest-born talented player, raised by local team Spartacus

only 22, but already entering her seventh European campaign with Ferencváros

since her debut in 2011, she spent just one season away from the club - in 2013/14, when she played for Siofok on loan

had a breakthrough season in 2016/17 as she scored her personal best of 42 goals

 

DEFENDERS

Anna Sen (RUS) - Rostov-Don

missed most of last season due to maternity leave, but came back in time for the EHF FINAL4 in May after giving birth to son Mark

plays for Rostov since 2011 - with exception of 2014/15, when she was with Györ; previously had spells at Kuban and Zvezda Zvenigorod

won the Junior WCh 2008 with Russia and became the tournament’s top scorer

 


Kelly Dulfer (NED) - Kobenhavn Handball

joined from German Bundesliga club VfL Oldenburg in the summer of 2017

is daughter of Dutch cricket internationals Ingrid Keijzer and Eric Dulfer

only 24 but has been a regular starter in the Dutch national team for several years

at 1.86 metre, her height is one of her assets, together with her shot , which has been developed in Copenhagen

best defender of EHF EURO 2018


Xenia Smits (GER) - Metz Handball

born in Belgium, raised in Germany and playing in France since 2015; also holds a German passport

she and Isabell Klein were the first two female German players in the French league

has played in three leagues so far: German with Blomberg-Lippe, French with Metz, and Belgian with HC Rhino

at 24, one of the key players for the German national team

 


Eduarda Amorim (BRA) - Györi Audi ETO KC

World Player of the Year in 2014, first arrived in Europe from her native Brazil in 2006, joining Kometal Skopje

moved to Györ in 2009, became one of the leaders in the defence

All-star left back at WCh 2013 and CL 2013/14, and All-star defender in CL 2015/16 and 2016/17

 

 


Sabina Jacobsen (SWE) - CSM Bucuresti

• defensive specialist, has been named the best defender of the Women’s EHF EURO 2014

• named Swedish handball player of the year in 2013

• a natural born dancer, Jacobsen is the responsible for the feel-good attitude both in the national and the club team

• loves Zumba, she started courses with several of her teammates in CSM

 


YOUNG PLAYERS

Katrin Klujber (HUN) - FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria

• one of the biggest talents in Hungarian handball

• joined FTC after the winter break from Dunajujvaros

• EHF Player of the Month for February 2019

• replaced Zita Szucsanski who left for a maternity leave

 


Noemi Hafra (HUN) - FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria

one of FTC’s young talents, also part of the Hungarian national team

joined FTC in 2014, spent the 2016/17 season on loan at MTK, and made her CL debut in 2017/18, scoring 16 goals

won Junior WCh 2018 with teammates Dorottya Faluvégi and Gréta Márton

All-star left back of Junior WCh 2018

 


Henny Ella Reistad (NOR) - Vipers Kristiansand

joined from another Norwegian club, Stabæk, in the summer of 2018

has been signed as supplement to Marta Tomac in the playmaker position

at age 19, is a player to build on for the future

already a promising playmaker, with strong skills in both defence and attack

 


Orlane Kanor (FRA) - Metz Handball

· at 21, she's only playing the EHF Champions League for the third time this season

· her twin sister, Laura, also plays with Metz, but with the junior team, on the left wing position

· Along with her sister and Meline Nocandy, another Metz youngster, they come from the same village in Guadeloupe and arrived in France at the same time in 2015. Now they share the same flat and spend their days together

· Has already turned into a key asset for both Metz and France, thanks to her physical skills and impressive jump qualities


Tatjana Brnovic (MNE) - Buducnost

scored 34 goals in her debut season in the CL in 2017/18, was named Rookie of the Main Round by ehfTV fans

impressed during two-year spell at Danilovgrad, and came to Buducnost after Dragana Cvijic left the team

first-choice line player for Buducnost as Ema Ramusovic is recovering from injury

 

 

 

COACHES

Ambros Martin (ESP) - Rostov-Don

joined Rostov in the summer of 2018 after six seasons at Györ, and winning four CL titles with the Hungarian outfit

previously coached Spanish side Estrella Itxako for seven years, winning the EHF Cup in 2009

steered the national team of Romania to 5th place at EHF EURO 2016 in Sweden

 

 

 


Emmanuel Mayonnade (FRA) - Metz Handball

at the age of 35, is the youngest CL coach in 2018/19

started coaching when he was 23 in Mios; a club he left 10 years later only because it suffered bankruptcy

appreciated by his players for his understanding and closeness

won two Challenge Cup titles with Mios, in 2011 and 2015

 

 


Gabor Elek (HUN) - FTC-Rail Cargo Hungaria

son of legendary coach Gyula Elek, who led FTC for almost three decades, now works in arena named after his father

leads Ferencváros since 2008 but won first domestic title in 2015 as the team regularly finishes runner-up to Györ

won back-to-back Cup Winners’ Cups in 2011 and 2012

respected member of the Ferencváros family, apart from his father his mother also played for the club

 

 


Gabor Danyi (HUN) - Györi Audi ETO KC

became head coach in 2018 to replace Ambros Martín, who joined Rostov-Don

born in Pécs, joined Györ in 2011 as an assistant coach, working with Csaba Konkoly, Karl Erik Böhn and Ambros Martín

previously coached the women’s and men’s teams of Pécs in the Hungarian league

assistant coach of the youth and junior national team of Hungary several times between 2001 and 2013

 



Ole Gustav Gjekstad (NOR) - Vipers Kristiansand

joined Vipers for the 2018/19 season, ending a three-  year hiatus in his coaching career

worked at Larvik until 2015, after an earlier stint with that club between 1999 and 2005

replaced Kenneth Gabrielsen, who led Vipers in their maiden CL season in 2017/18

as a player, scored 548 goals in 149 games for the Norwegian national team


TEXT: EHF / cor
 
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