Ivano Balić
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Ivano Balić | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | April 1, 1979 Split, SFR Yugoslavia |
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| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Middle Back | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current club | RK Zagreb | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 34 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Senior clubs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–2001 2001–2004 2004–2008 2008– |
RK Split RK Metković Portland San Antonio RK Zagreb |
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| National team 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ????– | Croatia | 108 (364) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| 1 National team caps and goals correct as of January 2009 (UTC) |
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Ivano Balić (born April 1, 1979 in Split) is a Croatian handballer, world and Olympic champion. He is considered to be the best male handball player ever.[1] He was voted 6 times in a row most valuable player in major international competitions.[2]
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[edit] Career
Before playing handball Balić trained with the basketball club KK Split. He began his handball career with RK Split. Balić was a member of the Croatian national team that won the 2003 World Men's Handball Championship in Portugal. He won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2005 World Championship in Tunisia.
Balić was declared the IHF World Player of the Year in 2003 and 2006[2] as well as the best player in Croatia 2003. After playing for RK Metković he moved to Portland San Antonio. At the 2006 European Championship in Switzerland he was declared the tournament MVP. Even though Croatia won the 5th place on the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship in Germany, he was declared the tournament's MVP. In the 2008 European Men's Handball Championship he was the equal top scorer with 44 goals as he led Croatia to a silver medal and was also voted to be in the All-Star Team for the tournament. His playing position is middle back.
[edit] Honours
[edit] Club
- Runner-up: 2005/06
- Runner-up: 2002
[edit] National
- Gold: 2004
- Runner-up: 2008, 2010
[edit] Individual
- IHF World Player of the Year: 2003, 2006
- Croatian Sportsman of the year: 2006
- IHF - Best Male Handball Player Of All Time: 2010
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.ihf.info/MediaCenter/News/NewsDetails/tabid/130/Default.aspx?ID=418
- ^ a b "World Handball Players of the Year 2006: Nadine Krause (GER) and Ivano Balic (CRO)". International Handball Federation. 2007-06-14. http://www.ihf.info/front_content.php?idcat=189&idart=733. Retrieved 2010-05-13. "To make a long story short: an all-rounder you may not have seen before in handball. Balic is a real star. The handball director, who fully deserved the award as Most Valuable Player of the 2007 World Championship, knows that. He knows the ritual since 2003, at least every second year. Given these facts, it seems to be a little bit surprising that this is only the second time after 2003 that the exceptional player has been elected World Handball Player of the Year."
| Olympic Games | ||
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| Preceded by Dubravko Šimenc |
Flagbearer for Croatia Beijing 2008 |
Succeeded by TBD |
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- 1979 births
- Living people
- People from Split, Croatia
- Croatian handball players
- Olympic handball players of Croatia
- Olympic gold medalists for Croatia
- Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
- Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Liga ASOBAL players
- Franjo Bučar Award winners
- SDC San Antonio handball players
- RK Zagreb handball players
- Olympic medalists in handball
