The Romanian women’s handball club Minaur Baia Mare qualified for
the second year in a row to the Final Four of the EHF European League. The
tournament was held in Viborg, Denmark, at the end of last week. The German
team Bietigheim won the tournament, after defeating the host team Viborg 31-20
in the final. Minaur ranked 4th after losing the bronze final to
Herning-Ikast of Denmark, 29-28 at the penalty shootout. In the first matches,
on Saturday, Minaur had lost to Viborg 24-28, whereas Bietigheim had won 34-33
against Herning-Ikast.
In Denmark, the Romanian club put on an impressive display of
handball, despite losing both games. In the first match against Viborg, Minaur
played well, despite the pressure from the stands. The difference was made on
the court however, particularly on the defense. Goalkeeper Anna Kristensen
saved 14 throws, which is tantamount to a 37% save percentage. On the
offensive, the Romanian handballers played well, Cristina Laslo being the
team’s topscorer with 7 goals. In the second match against Herning-Ikast, Laslo
scored another three goals, raising her goal number to 10 in the Final Four.
Asuka Fujita of Japan also scored 8 goals for Minaur, followed by Yaroslava Burlachenko
of Ukraine and Jelena Lavko of Serbia, who scored 7 goals. For her remarkable
performance in the European League, we have designated Cristina Laslo Athlete
of the Week on RRI.
Cristina Laslo was born April 10, 1996 in Cluj, where she also made
her debut for the local youth club. She spent her first years as a pro playing
for Universitatea Cluj. In 2014, she was named captain of Romania’s youth team,
with which she won the gold medal at the World Championships in Macedonia. She
was designated the best center in the competition. Two years later, at the
Youth World Cup in Russia, she was again designated best center, while Romania
scooped bronze. In 2017, she was signed by Buducnost Podgorica of Montenegro,
witch which she reached the Champions League quarterfinals in 2018 and 2019.
She returned to Romania to play for Corona Brașov until 2020, when she got transferred to Minaur.
She has already signed a deal with Gloria Bistrița and will move to her new
club at the end of the season. (VP)