Athlete of the Week
Handballer Sonia Serafinceanu has been designated Athlete of the Week by Radio Romania International
Daniel Bilț, 14.01.2025, 13:45
Upon the European Championship, which ended the year 2024 for women’s handball, the inter-club competitions have again grabbed the limelight.
The Champions League saw its ninth leg and the EHF European League kicked off with its groups phase.
Today we are going to talk about the only Romanian success registered in the past weekend in the Champions League, which belonged to Gloria Bistrita Nasaud. On Saturday, the Romanians clinched their third win in the present edition of the aforementioned competition, where our handballers had just made their debut. Coach Florentin Pera’s trainees clinched a 31 – 28 home win against the Norwegians from Storhamar, a side which defeated them twice last year; the first time in the finals of the EHF European League, in Austria in May, and also on Storhamar’s own ground in October, when they got a 25-23 win.
The Norwegians were also close to victory in Bistrita as well, as they were leading the game 15-13 before the break. However, Gloria managed an excellent second half and secured the victory in the end of the game.
Spanish player Danila So Delgado Pinto was Gloria’s most effective scorer with 7 goals scored. Left wing Sonia Serafinceanu also managed six goals at the end of her best game in the Champions League this season. And for this reason, Radio Romania International has designated her Athlete of the Week.
Sonia Mariana Serafinceanu was born in Hunedoara, on July 25th 1997 and took up handball at the local school sports club. She made her debut in the national league with local side Muresul and played for various top-tier sides, such as Cetate Deva, Universitatea Cluj, CSM Slatina and Minaur Baia Mare.
She has been playing for Gloria since 2021. Sonia made her debut with Romania’s national side in 2029 at the 51st edition of the Carpathians Trophy, held in Brăila. She was part of the national lineup at the last year’s edition of the European Championship. After a lackluster play against Czechia, she scored 6 goals against Montenegro, 7 against Serbia and 3 against France. She didn’t play against Sweden but joined the Romanian lineup in the match against Hungary, where she scored 5 times.
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