Athlete of the Week

Radio Romania International has designated handballer Yuliya Dumanska athlete of the week

Florin Orban, 13.01.2026, 13:45

The past weekend saw the beginning of the European women’s handball competition known as the EHF European League, the second continental inter-club competition after the Champions League. Out of the 16 sides playing in the aforementioned competition, three are from Romania. In Group A, on Saturday, Minaur Baia Mare secured a 28-26 win against the Norwegian side Larvik. A day later, in Group C, Rapid Bucharest was up against another Norwegian side, Bergen, and the match ended in a draw, 32 all.

Also on Sunday in Braşov, central Romania, local side Corona was outperformed by the French team Dijon, 35-30, in a Group D match. Out of the only Romanian winner in the EHF competition, Minaur Baia Mare, Radio Romania International has chosen Yulia Dumanska as athlete of the week. The goalie of the Maramureş side had a considerable hand in the team’s win with 9 successful saves, which accounted for 26% of the total shots, with which the opponents tried the Romanian goal.

Yuliya Dumanska was born in the Ukrainian city of Gorodenka, on August 15, 1996. She took up handball with the local side but was soon discovered by coaches Ion and Ioana Marta, who invited her to their club in Baia Mare in 2011. Since 2012 until 2016 she played for HCM Baia Mare, then she joined Sport Club Municipal Craiova, with which she won the EHF Cup. After two years she joined HCM Râmnicu Vâlcea, a side it won the Romanian championship in 2019. In 2020 she joined the Croatian side Podravka Koprivnica. Two years later she came back to Romania and signed up with Gloria Bistriţa. She has been playing for Minaur Baia Mare since 2024.

On May 5 2016, during an event staged at the Romanian Ministry of Youth and Sports, Yulia Dumanska got the Romanian citizenship. Since then she has won 70 caps for the Romanian national side.

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