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

• 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

· 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