06.10.2016, 11:04
Majda Mehmedovic and the proof that persistence pays off

EHF EURO KEY PLAYERS: Although she is only 26 years old, Majda Mehmedovic will be one of the most important players for Montenegro at the Women’s EHF EURO in Sweden

Majda Mehmedovic and the proof that persistence always pays off

Over the past few years it seemed that whenever it came to crunch time, injuries stopped Majda Mehmedovic.

It was from hospital that she watched the second leg of the Women’s EHF Champions League Final in 2012 which ended with her club Buducnost lifting the coveted trophy for the first time.

She was still injured a few weeks later when Montenegro qualified for the Olympic Games – the team’s campaign at London 2012 eventually became a silver one and at least this time Mehmedovic was on court.

However, a mere four months later, the left wing injured herself halfway through the EHF EURO 2012 in Serbia and was forced to watch Montenegro’s thrilling 34:31 win against Norway after double extra time in the final from courtside.

She took it with a smile back then: “I hope that I have ‘cracked’ the number of these bad luck injuries. These are things that cannot be influenced, but I hope that I will avoid such accidents in the future. It would be good to find some other kind of tale,” Majda Mehmedovic said at the end of 2012.

She should be proven correct. Over the past four years she became one of Montenegro’s aces, both in attack and defence. In 2015 she grabbed her second chance to win the Women’s EHF Champions League with both hands and scored six goals in the final against Larvik.

Her simple explanation: “Persistence always pays off.”

A true power package

Although she is only 26 years old, Majda Mehmedovic will be one of the most experienced Montenegrin players at the Women’s EHF EURO in Sweden. Even more so, as head coach Dragan Adzic decided to rejuvenate the squad looking ahead to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“Majda has all the attributes of great player. She is a born winner, determined and a real competitor. She never gives up,” says Adzic who also coached Mehmedovic in Montenegro before the she transferred to CSM Bucuresti at the beginning of the 2016/17 season.

“She’s not afraid to take the responsibility on her shoulders at any time.  She’s fast; she has explosive power and endurance.

“During a national team week, we conducted some tests and Majda made a 2.5 metre long jump without running beforehand. I have never trained a player who was able to do so.

Great character, persistent and committed

Majda Mehmedovic started playing handball in her native town of Bar, Montenegro at the age of 13. A few years later she moved to the capital Podgorica and joined Buducnost.

“I remember that for two or three years her parents drove Majda every day from Bar to Podgorica to the training sessions, which, at that time for the younger players, we had to organise outside on concrete floor.

“Today our young players have much better conditions to train, but many do not take advantage of this. Even then it was obvious how persistent and committed Majda is. She remained like this until today,” Adzic said.

No.1 for Radmila Petrovic, adored by Veselin Vujovic

For years Radmila Petrovic has been the best friend of Majda Mehmedovic on and off the court.

"Majda is a key player in the national team for good reason. She’s among the most experienced players and has played a lot of good matches. She’s very stable, nothing can disrupt her.

She’s relentless, secure and physically very prepared. Majda is one of the most complete and best players not only in our team but also in the world! For me, she’s no.1 on the court and I’m not saying this as a good friend,” Petrovic said to ehf-euro.com.

Montenegro-born handball legend Veselin Vujovic, currently head coach of HC PPD Zagreb and the Slovenian national team, adores – as he says – Majda Mehmedovic.

“You can just wish to have in every team a player with such guts and heart like Majda. She plays great defence; she is excellent in attack, as a wing or line player. I don’t remember that she ever played a bad match.”

TEXT: Saša Jončić / ts