Russia women's national handball team

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For history before 1993, see Soviet Union women's national handball team and Commonwealth of Independent States § Sports events.

Russia Russia
Information
AssociationHandball Union of Russia
CoachLyudmila Bodniyeva
Assistant coachTomáš Hlavatý
Mikhail Izmailov
CaptainOlga Fomina
Most capsLyudmila Postnova (212)
Most goalsLyudmila Postnova (722)
Colours
Kit left arm blueborder.png
Team colours
Team colours
Kit right arm blueborder.png
Team colours
Team colours
Home
Kit left arm whiteborder.png
Team colours
Team colours
Kit right arm whiteborder.png
Team colours
Team colours
Away
Results
Summer Olympics
Appearances3 (First in 2008)
Best result1st (2016)
World Championship
Appearances14 (First in 1993)
Best result1st (2001, 2005, 2007, 2009)
European Championship
Appearances14 (First in 1994)
Best result2nd (2006, 2018)
Last updated on Unknown.
Russia women's national handball team
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing Team
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo Team
World Championship
Gold medal – first place 2001 Italy
Gold medal – first place 2005 Russia
Gold medal – first place 2007 France
Gold medal – first place 2009 China
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Japan
European Championship
Silver medal – second place 2006 Sweden
Silver medal – second place 2018 France
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Romania
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Macedonia

The Russia women's national handball team is the national team of Russia. It is governed by the Handball Union of Russia and takes part in international handball competitions.

They are as of October 2021, together with the Soviet Union Soviet Union women's national handball team, the only handball teams on the women's and men's side in the world, to have won the World Championship three consecutive times. Overall, the team won three medals at the Olympics, with a gold on 2016, five medals at the World Championships, with four of them gold, and four medals at the European Championships, with two silvers in 2006 and 2018.

History[]

1993–1999: Instability[]

The Russian women's national handball team was formed in 1993 as the successor Soviet Union women's national handball team, one of the strongest handball teams. Notwithstanding the third place at the 1992 Summer Olympics as Unified Team, Russia could not qualify to the Olympic Games in the following eight years.[1]

In this period the Russian team saw four changes of coaches, who retired after failing on large events. The only striking performance was at the 1997 World Women's Handball Championship, where Russia under Igor Eskov, coach of the Rostov club Istochnik, became 4th, and two Russian handball players, Natalya Malakhova and Natalya Deryugina, were included into the All-Star team. However, already in the next year at the 1998 European Women's Handball Championship in the Netherlands, Russia became only 9th, and at the 1999 World Women's Handball Championship, under Kuban's Alexander Tarasikov and head coach of the Unified Team at the 1992 Olympics, just 12th.[1]

1999–2009: Breakthrough[]

In late 1999, Tarasikov was replaced by Evgeny Trefilov, the club coach of Lada. He introduced younger players to the national team and concentrated more on national club players. At the 2000 European Championship, Russia became bronze medalist.[1]

At the 2001 World Championship, Trefilov returned two veterans, , which was her sixth participation at Worlds, and the 1990 World champion, goalkeeper Svetlana Bogdanova. Russia won all nine matches, and in the final defeated Norway.[2]

Against the backgrounds of those victories, team Russia became 4th at the 2002 European Championship in Denmark, and a year later at the World Championship in Croatia they became only 7th, which meant that Trefilov's team could not qualify for the 2004 Olympic Games. Only one point was needed to reach the semi-finals in Croatia, but Russia failed to do that against France in the group stage, losing 19–20; a draw would have been enough to qualify.

After the fourth-best result at the 2004 European Championship in Hungary, team Russia rose from the ashes at the 2005 World Championship in St. Petersburg, repeating the 2001 success in Italy.[3]

Russia lost in the final of the 2006 European Championship to Norway, and so could not directly qualify for the Olympics; however, Russia rematched Norway at the 2007 World Championship in France in the final. A number of top handball players such as Lyudmila Bodnieva, MVP of the previous World championships and member of the All-Star Team at the 2000 and 2006 European championships, Irina Bliznova, who was injured in the group stage, Natalya Shipilova, who could not compete in the semi-finals. Goal keeper Inna Suslina made a great game, saving three out of five penalties. Russia won 29–24.[4]

Norway returned the favour at the 2008 Olympics in the gold medal game. Already in the early stage leading ten balls, the Vikings hindered the Russians coming back, and so Russia lost 34–27. Russia won silver.[5]

After the Olympic Games, Anna Kareeva, Oksana Romenskaya and Natalya Shipilova decided to retire from handball.[6][7] Prior to the 2008 European Championship in Macedonia, players such as Polina Vyakhireva, Yana Uskova, Ekaterina Andryushina, Lyudmila Postnova and Irina Bliznova could not compete for Russia due to injuries or disease; they were replaced by nine debutants. Russia again met Norway in the semi-finals, and as previously, the Scandinavians started well, leading 7–1 in the beginning. In the third-place match between Germany, Russia claimed bronze.[8]

The Russians defeated the Norwegians in the semi-final of the 2009 World Championship with a score of 28–20. In the final, Russia claimed the gold medal by defeating France, 25–22.

2009–2013: Decline and Retirement of Trefilov[]

After the 2009 World Championships, team Russia saw a number of disappointing results. They became 7th at the 2010 European Championship and 6th at the 2011 World Championship. Russia could not get beyond the quarterfinal of the 2012 Olympics, losing there to South Korea. After the London Olympics, the new head coach became Vitaly Krokhin.

In June 2013, Russia fought for the qualification to the World Championship. In the playoff round, Russia won the first leg in Rotterdam, 27–26, but lost the next leg in Rostov-on-Don, 21–33. With that said, Russia for the first time did not qualify for the Worlds.[9]

2013–19: Trefilov's Return and Olympic Gold[]

On 16 September 2013, Evgeny Trefilov returned as head coach.[10] He debuted at the 2014 European Championship, but Russia became a dreadful 14th, the worst ever result in the European championships. However, on 7 and 13 June 2015, Russia twice defeated Germany in the playoffs and qualified for the 2015 World Championship. In their first match they defeated the Norwegians, 26–25.[11] However, the Russians only reached the quarterfinals, losing there to Poland. In the playoffs, team Russia was placed 5th.[12]

Russia qualified to the Olympics for the third time, through the qualification tournament taking place from 18 to 20 March 2016 in Astrakhan. In the group stage of the Olympic tournament, Russia defeated all of its rivals. In the knockout stage, the Russians defeated Angola in the quarterfinal, and in the marathon semi-final match between Norway claimed the deciding point in overtime. In the final, Russia defeated France to claim its first Olympic gold in women's handball.[13][14]

At the 2018 European Championships, the last time under the guidance of Trefilov, Russia broke through the final for the first time since 2006. Russia lost to host France, who took its first championship title.

2019–20: Ambros Martin as new head coach[]

In August 2019, national team's head coach Trefliov was replaced by Rostov-Don's Ambros Martin. Trefilov took the post as vice-president of the Handball Federation of Russia.[15] Team Russia entered the 2019 World Championships as the main favourite. The squad, primarily including 20 players, was reduced to 18 players; injured Antonina Skorobogatchenko and alternate Olga Shcherbak were dismissed.[16] The Russian team, being vastly superior to other teams, including to runners-up Spain, after winning eight matches in a row was eventually defeated by the Dutch in the semi-finals by a one-point difference, which happened after a last-minute shot in the second half, leaving a final result of 32–33 for Russia against the Netherlands.[17] However, Russia went on to win the bronze match against Norway, 33–28; this was the first time since 2009 that the Russians won a medal at the Worlds.

Russia went to the 2020 Europeans with less optimism; three injured top players – Elena Mikhaylichenko, Anna Sen and Anna Viakhireva – had to skip the championships; reduced team practice sessions of only one week, for the first time taking place in a sports school hall; missing test matches due to the worldwide situation imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak.[18] Russia started well on the Championships, finishing first in its group in the preliminary round. In the main round, the Russians defeated Montenegro, played a draw match against France and lost against Denmark. As a result, they did not qualify for the semifinals. Martin decided to retire from his position as head coach, expressing his will to focus on family life instead.[19]

2021: Alekseyev replaces Martin[]

After Martin retired in December 2020, Lada's Alexey Alekseyev, who previously served as assistant coach for the national team and was the head coach of Luch, replaced the Spaniard. Furthermore, the coaching staff was renewed, now featuring former handball player Olga Akopyan and Rostov-Don's assistant coach Tomáš Hlavatý. Also, Trefilov took the position as consultant.[20] Prior to the Tokyo's 2020 Summer Olympics, which were postponed to July-August 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, team Russia went through the Hungarian leg of the qualification tournament, which took place Győr. Two of four participating teams were granted a ticket to the upcoming Olympics. Russia won all three matches against Serbia, Kazakhstan and Hungary.[21][22]

The squad for the Olympics was announced on 2 June.[23] Prior to the Olympics, on 26 June Russia played a friendly match against the Netherlands in Japan.[24] A week later they played another friendly match, losing a second time to the Dutch team.[25] Goalkeeper Anastasia Lagina and outside left Daria Samokhina were named alternates.[26] The team lost its opening Olympic match to Sweden, then drew Hungary, and after that went on a five-match winning streak all the way to the gold medal game, beating Norway in the semi-finals by one point, just as they did in 2016. And just as in 2016, Russia faced France in the final. This time, the French prevailed, 30–25, but Russia won silver, its third Olympic medal after Soviet collapse.

On 23 September 2021, Lyudmila Bodniyeva was announced as the team's new head coach, after Alekseyev's contract ran out.[27]

Results[]

Russia women's national handball team at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Honours[]

Competition 1st place, gold medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Total
Olympic Games 1 2 0 3
World Championship 4 0 1 5
European Championship 0 2 2 4
Total 5 4 3 12

Olympic Games[]

Year Position Pld W D L GS GA +/-
United States 1996 Did not qualify
Australia 2000
Greece 2004
China 2008 2nd Silver medal.svg 8 6 1 1 229 210 +19
United Kingdom 2012 8th 6 3 1 2 174 149 +25
Brazil 2016 1st Gold medal.svg 8 8 0 0 256 230 +26
Japan 2020 2nd Silver medal.svg 8 5 1 2 232 226 +6
Total 4/7 30 22 3 5 891 815 +76

World Championship[]

Year Position Pld W D L GS GA +/–
Norway 1993 5th 7 4 1 2 164 147 +17
Austria/Hungary 1995 6th 8 4 1 3 187 171 +16
Germany 1997 4th 9 6 1 2 227 209 +18
Denmark/Norway 1999 12th 6 3 0 3 178 144 +34
Italy 2001 1st Gold medal world centered-2.svg 9 9 0 0 252 194 +58
Croatia 2003 7th 8 5 1 2 224 182 +42
Russia 2005 1st Gold medal world centered-2.svg 10 10 0 0 328 239 +89
France 2007 1st Gold medal world centered-2.svg 9 7 1 1 324 279 +45
China 2009 1st Gold medal world centered-2.svg 9 6 0 3 253 242 +11
Brazil 2011 6th 9 7 0 2 295 210 +85
Serbia 2013 Did not qualify
Denmark 2015 5th 9 8 0 1 277 207 +70
Germany 2017 5th 7 6 0 1 202 180 +18
Japan 2019 3rd Bronze medal world centered-2.svg 10 9 0 1 311 224 +87
Spain 2021 8th 7 4 1 2 211 181 +30
Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023 To be determined
Germany/Netherlands 2025
Hungary 2027
Total 14/18 119 92 6 21 3486 2708 +778

European Championship[]

Year Position Pld W D L GS GA ±
Germany 1994 6th 6 3 0 3 143 116 +27
Denmark 1996 7th 6 3 1 2 164 147 +17
Netherlands 1998 9th 6 1 1 4 144 147 −3
Romania 2000 3rd Bronze medal europe.svg 7 5 0 2 163 148 +15
Denmark 2002 4th 8 4 1 3 202 189 +13
Hungary 2004 4th 8 4 0 4 226 215 +11
Sweden 2006 2nd Silver medal europe.svg 8 7 0 1 242 200 +42
North Macedonia 2008 3rd Bronze medal europe.svg 8 5 1 2 210 183 +27
DenmarkNorway 2010 7th 6 3 0 3 159 145 +14
Serbia 2012 6th 7 2 3 2 190 180 +10
CroatiaHungary 2014 14th 3 0 1 2 79 83 −4
Sweden 2016 7th 6 2 2 2 148 147 +1
France 2018 2nd Silver medal europe.svg 8 5 0 3 217 209 +8
DenmarkNorway 2020 5th 7 5 1 1 193 178 +15
SloveniaNorth MacedoniaMontenegro 2022 TBD
AustriaHungarySwitzerland 2024
Russia 2026 Qualified as host
DenmarkNorwaySweden 2028 TBD
Total 15/18 94 49 11 34 2480 2287 +193

Other tournaments[]

Team[]

Current squad[]

Squad for the 2021 World Women's Handball Championship.[28][29]

Head coach: Lyudmila Bodniyeva

No. Pos. Name Date of birth (age) Height App. Goals Club
3 LW Polina Gorshkova (1989-11-22) 22 November 1989 (age 32) 1.73 m 34 58 Russia CSKA Moscow
11 GK Anastasia Lagina (1995-08-11) 11 August 1995 (age 26) 1.78 m 11 2 Russia Rostov-Don
23 LB Elena Mikhaylichenko (2001-09-14) 14 September 2001 (age 20) 1.80 m 21 28 Russia CSKA Moscow
25 RW Olga Fomina (1989-04-17) 17 April 1989 (age 32) 1.75 m 151 305 Russia HC Lada
31 CB Karina Sabirova (1998-03-23) 23 March 1998 (age 23) 1.81 m 27 41 Russia CSKA Moscow
33 CB Ekaterina Ilina (1991-03-07) 7 March 1991 (age 30) 1.74 m 119 318 Russia CSKA Moscow
35 CB Valeriia Kirdiasheva (2000-11-28) 28 November 2000 (age 21) 1.77 m 2 5 Russia HC Lada
36 RW Yulia Managarova (1988-09-27) 27 September 1988 (age 33) 1.67 m 70 220 Russia Rostov-Don
39 RB Antonina Skorobogatchenko (1999-02-14) 14 February 1999 (age 22) 1.82 m 58 128 Russia CSKA Moscow
41 LB Veronika Nikitina (1992-05-16) 16 May 1992 (age 29) 1.75 m 13 19 Russia HC Lada
51 CB Milana Tazhenova (1999-03-06) 6 March 1999 (age 22) 1.82 m 2 1 Russia Rostov-Don
55 P Ksenia Zakordonskaya (2003-03-04) 4 March 2003 (age 18) 1.74 m 0 0 Russia HC Astrakhanochka
67 P Anastasia Illarionova (1999-03-28) 28 March 1999 (age 22) 1.80 m 28 16 Russia CSKA Moscow
76 RB Ekaterina Zelenkova (1999-02-28) 28 February 1999 (age 22) 1.82 m 2 3 Russia Rostov-Don
77 CB Yaroslava Frolova (1997-05-18) 18 May 1997 (age 24) 1.77 m 41 90 Russia Rostov-Don
78 LB (1995-06-07) 7 June 1995 (age 26) 1.82 m 16 6 Russia HC Astrakhanochka
86 CB Olga Sherbak (1998-03-14) 14 March 1998 (age 23) 1.77 m 2 5 Russia HC Lada
96 LW Yulia Markova (1996-08-10) 10 August 1996 (age 25) 1.68 m 20 18 Russia CSKA Moscow
99 GK Polina Kaplina (1999-08-16) 16 August 1999 (age 22) 1.81 m 7 1 Russia CSKA Moscow

Notable players[]

Several Russian players have seen their individual performance recognized at international tournaments, either as Most Valuable Player, best defense player or as a member of the All-Star Team.

MVP
  • Liudmila Bodnieva, 2005 World Championship
  • Liudmila Postnova, 2009 World Championship
  • Anna Vyakhireva, 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics; 2018 European Championship
All-Star Team
Best defense player
  • Nadezda Muravyeva, 2008 European Championship

Coaching history[]

Period Head Coach
–1999 Russia Alexander Tarasikov
1999–2012; 2013–2019 Russia Evgeny Trefilov
2012–2013 Russia Vitaly Krokhin
2019–2020 Spain Ambros Martin
2021 Russia Alexey Alekseyev
2021– Russia Liudmila Bodnieva[30]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Из того, что было" [From what was there] (in Russian). Sports.ru. 18 December 2000. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  2. ^ Georgy Kudinov (18 December 2001). "Русские женщины умеют делать подарки" [Russian women can bring offerings] (in Russian). Sport-Express. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  3. ^ Elena Rerikh, Vladimir Yurinov (19 December 2005). "Русский хоровод" [Russian round dance] (in Russian). Sport-Express. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2016.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  4. ^ Natalya Kuzina (17 December 2007). "Какие же золотые у них руки!" [They have such golden hands!] (in Russian). Sovyetsky Sport. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  5. ^ Regina Sevostyanova (23 August 2008). "Трефилов: сначала женщины плачут, потом ревут" [Trefilov: At first women cry, then howl] (in Russian). Championat.ru. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  6. ^ Vladimir Mozhatsev (4 September 2008). "2008-09-04" (in Russian). Sport-Express. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  7. ^ "Гандбол: Шипилова завершает карьеру" [Handball: Shipilova ends career] (in Russian). Sportbox.ru. 14 September 2008. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  8. ^ Vladimir Mozhaytsev (15 December 2008). "В Македонии родилась новая сборная России" [A new team was born in Macedonia] (in Russian). Sport-Express. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  9. ^ "Чемпионат мира впервые пройдёт без нас" [The World Championship will be without us for the first time] (in Russian). Handball Federation of Russia. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  10. ^ Anastasia Bogdanova (16 September 2013). "Король Треф" [King Tref] (in Russian). Gazeta.ru. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  11. ^ Россиянки стартовали на чемпионате мира с победы
  12. ^ Borislav Golovin (20 December 2015). "Российские гандболистки попали в пятерку" [Russian handball players became fifth] (in Russian). Gazeta.ru. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  13. ^ Mikhail Chesalin (19 August 2016). "Ругай их, ругай! Как Россия вышла в финал Олимпиады" [Scold them, scold them! How Russia entered the Olympic final] (in Russian). Championat.com. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  14. ^ "Российские гандболистки завоевали золото Олимпийских игр в Рио-де-Жанейро" [Russian handball players won gold at the Rio Olympic Games] (in Russian). Championat.com. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  15. ^ “I'm not leaving handball”: Russian coach legend Trefilov moves up to federation vice-president role
  16. ^ ЧМ-2019. Амброс Мартин назвал окончательный состав сборной России — в нем нет Антонины Скоробогатченко и Ольги Щербак
  17. ^ Netherlands beat Olympic champions Russia to make IHF Women's Handball World Championship final
  18. ^ «Медаль будет хорошим результатом». Сборную России вычеркнули из числа фаворитов Евро-2020
  19. ^ Главный тренер женской сборной России по гандболу Амброс Мартин будет отправлен в отставку
  20. ^ Алексей Алексеев возглавил женскую сборную России по гандболу
  21. ^ Российские гандболистки завоевали путёвку на Олимпийские игры в Токио
  22. ^ Last six spots at women's handball tournament in Tokyo confirmed
  23. ^ Объявлен состав женской сборной России по гандболу для подготовки к Олимпиаде в Токио
  24. ^ Женская сборная России по гандболу проиграла Нидерландам в контрольном матче
  25. ^ Нидерланды - Россия. 02-07-2021. Товарищеский
  26. ^ Названы гандболистки, которые будут в резерве сборной России на Олимпиаде в Токио
  27. ^ "Bodniyeva takes over as head coach of Russian women". www.eurohandball.com. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  28. ^ "20 гандболисток вызваны для подготовки к чемпионату мира" (in Russian). rushandball.ru. 15 November 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  29. ^ "Team Roster Russian Handball Federation" (PDF). ihf.info. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  30. ^ handball-world. "Russia`s Handball Federation Reveals New Head Coach of Women`s National Team". handball-world. Retrieved 11 November 2021.

External links[]

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