27.07.2015, 12:40
'Go east' is the motto for the best

NEWS FEATURE: Take a closer look at the 10 most significant summer transfers in the Women's EHF Champions League. Part 2 looks at the top five so far

'Go east' is the motto for the best

Katrine Lunde's transfer from Györ to Rostov was a major surprise and it tops the transfer ranking prior to the start of the Women’s EHF Champions League season. The trend in the five top positions is clearly marked by the motto: go east!

No 5: Allison Pineau (FRA, Baia Mare)

France, Romania, FYR Macedonia, Slovenia, France and now she is back in Romania, the 2009 IHF World Handball Player of the Year is on a constant journey. Baia Mare will be Pineau’s second side in Romania after playing for Oltchim. After three clubs in the previous season (Vardar Skopje, Krim Ljubljana and French side Nimes) she wants to settle in Baia Mare. The centre back (2009 runners-up at the World Championship with France) is one of the most skilled players in the competition.

No 4: Sanja Damnjanovic (SRB, Vardar Skopje)

The two best friends are united on club level: Thanks to Damnjanovic’s move to Skopje, she will be on court with her Serbian country fellow Andrea Lekic as before in the national team, right next to her in the left back position. After two seasons in Viborg including winning the Cup Winners’ Cup she leaves Denmark to start a new challenge closer to home. Damnjanovic has previously been playing for Podravka, Zajecar and Krim.

No 3: Zsuzsana Tomori (HUN, Audi ETO Györ) – and others

Her last match for FTC was the victorious league final against Györ, ending the domestic winning spree of the 2013 and 2014 EHF Women’s Champions League winners, now she wears the jersey of the defeated runners-ups. Zsuzsana Tomori is – like other Hungarians – part of Györ’s biggest transition in the few last years. The left back was the Champions League top scorer in 2013 with 95 goals and is a cornerstone of the national team. Another Hungarian top star Anita Görbicz returns to her team after giving birth to her baby. In addition, the current IHF World Handball Player of the Year, Brazilian Eduarda Amorim, will be back on track after her long injury break (rupture of the crucial ligament).

No 2: Isabelle Gullden (SWE, CSM Bucuresti)

The MVP and bronze medallist of the 2014 Women’s EHF EURO had several options and she opted for the Romanian capital to join the team of her Swedish national team captain Linnea Torstenson. Gullden transferred from her home club Sävehof to Viborg in 2011, right after winning the EHF EURO silver medal in Sweden. But Bella is not the only big signing of the Romanian champions, as players like Dane Line Jörgensen, Croatian goalkeeper Jelena Grubisic or Romanian top star Aurelia Bradeanu are all new in the team.

No 1: Katrine Lunde (NOR, Rostov)

Four Champions League trophies, four times EHF EURO champion, twice Olympic champion and once World champion – there are not many female handball players with a silver ware collection like the Norwegian goalkeeper Katrine Lunde. After leading Viborg (2009, 2010) and Györ (2013, 2014) to two Champions League trophies, she goes east, joining new Russian champions Rostov including Danish coach Jan Leslie, Lunde’s former coach in Aalborg. After giving birth to her baby, she did not take the offer to extend her contract at Györ and left the club in early 2015. In Rostov, she will join up with another Györ team mate, Spaniard Macarena Aguilar.

TEXT: Björn Pazen / bc