Luka Karabatic
Luka Karabatić | |||
---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||
Born |
Strasbourg, France | 19 April 1988||
Nationality | French | ||
Height | 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) | ||
Playing position | Pivot | ||
Club information | |||
Current club | Paris Saint-Germain | ||
Number | 22 | ||
Senior clubs | |||
Years | Team | ||
2008–2012 | Montpellier Handball | ||
2012–2015 | Pays d'Aix UC | ||
2015– | Paris Saint-Germain | ||
National team | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2011– | France | 94 | (104) |
Luka Karabatić (born 19 April 1988) is a French handball player for Paris Saint-Germain and the French national team.[1][2]
He is the younger brother of Nikola Karabatić.
Biography[]
Karabatić came from a handball family – his father, who is originally from Trogir, Croatia, is a former Yugoslavian handballer who played as goalkeeper in the national team. His older brother, Nikola, is one of the best handball players in the world who was named best player in the world by IHF two times, but Karabatic decided to play tennis and won France championship for 10 years old in 1998. In 2007, when he was 19, Karabatic started to train handball with the youth team of Montpellier Handball as center back. In 2009 he joined the senior team of the club, in the same year his older brother returned to Montpellier AHB again.
In his first two years as professional player, Karabatić won the French championship two times in 2009 and 2010. After his two successful seasons in Montpellier, the club decided to extend his contract until 2016. He became the second pivot in rotation after Issam Tej. In June 2006, Karabatic debuted for France in a friendly tournament in Argentina.
On 30 September 2012, he was involved in a match-fixing and arrested with his brother Nikola and his wife. On 2 October, he was indicted and then released for €4,500. Few days after his release from custody, Karabatic released from Montpellier AHB because of "serious disciplinary offenses". He signed for Pays d'Aix Université, which only promoted to LNH Division 1, with his brother Nikola. In their first season in the club, the Karabatic brothers took the team to the 9th place in the league.
In 2014, Karabatić played for the first time with France in an official competition in EHF Euro in Denmark. In 2015 he won the World Championship with France.
References[]
- ^ "Luka Karabatic". eurohandball.com. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
- ^ 2019 World Men's Handball Championship roster
External links[]
- Luka Karabatic at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- 1988 births
- Living people
- French male handball players
- French people of Serbian descent
- French people of Croatian descent
- Sportspeople from Strasbourg
- Olympic handball players of France
- Handball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Olympic silver medalists for France
- Olympic medalists in handball
- Montpellier Handball players
- Sportspeople from Bas-Rhin
- Handball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Olympic gold medalists for France