Crina Elena Pintea (née Ailincăi; born 3 April 1990) is a Romanian professional

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

er who plays as a pivot for

CSM București Clubul Sportiv Municipal București, commonly known as CSM București is a Romanian professional Sports club, multi-sports club based in Bucharest. Departments Active branches: *Sport of athletics, Athletics *Basketball *Dancesport *Handball *Jud ...

and the

Romanian national team The Romania national football team ( ro, Echipa națională de fotbal a României) represents Romania in international men's football competition and is administered by the Romanian Football Federation ( ro, Federația Română de Fotbal), also ...

. Considered to be one of the best pivots in the world, in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

she was named to the EHF Champions League All-Star Team. In

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, she was named to the European Championship All-Star Team. Pintea is also regarded by many as one of the best defenders in the world. In recognition of her performances and achievements throughout the year, she was also voted the Romanian Handballer of the Year in 2019.

Early life

Born in Bacău County, in the village of Podu Turcului, she is the oldest of four children. She did not practice seriously any sport until age 16.

Career

Pintea moved to Râmnicu Vâlcea at the age of sixteen and began her career at Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea before signing for HC Zalău from the academy at the Centrul Național Olimpic de Excelență Râmnicu Vâlcea (CNOE Râmnicu Vâlcea) in 2009 by

Gheorghe Tadici Gheorghe Tadici (born 27 March 1952 in Piatra Neamț) is a Romanian handball coach in charge of the Romanian top division side HC Zalău. In 2012 he also became head coach of the Romania women's national handball team, Romanian women's national han ...

. She was also the runner-up of the

2011–12 EHF Cup The 2011–12 EHF Cup was the 31st edition of the EHF Cup. Frisch Auf Göppingen, who were the defending champions, won the title for the second consecutive season, beating Dunkerque HB in the final. Knockout stage Round 1 Round 2 ...

competition. In October 2015, following a lengthy dispute over a new contract, she was signed by

Thüringer HC Thüringer Handball Club Erfurt-Bad Langensalza e. V is a German professional women's handball team from Erfurt and Bad Langensalza. The club has its seat in Erfurt and plays the home matches in the Salza-Halle in Bad Langensalza. They compete in ...

. She then went on to help THC win Bundesliga title in the 2015–16 season, and the DHB-Supercup next season as well. A year later, Pintea signed for Paris 92 in France where she was named in the Championnat de France Team of the Year for season 2017–18. She joined Győri Audi ETO KC under Ambros Martín's leadership, and helped the club win

treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...

in 2018–19. Győr allowed Crina Pintea to leave the club at the end of the season, honouring a

gentlemen's agreement A gentlemen's agreement, or gentleman's agreement, is an informal and legally non-binding agreement between two or more parties. It is typically oral, but it may be written or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or th ...

. In the summer 2019,

announced that they have signed Pintea after only half a year with ETO. Pintea made her senior debut for Romania in September 2012 after previously being capped by Romania youth team at under-19 level. She was chosen in Romania's squads for the 2013, 2015 and 2017 IHF World Championships and EHF Euro 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Achievements

;National team * IHF World Championship: **''Bronze Medalist'': 2015 ;European Competitions * EHF Champions League: **''Winner:'' 2019 * EHF Cup: **''Finalist'': 2012 ;Domestic Competitions *

Romanian National League Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: **''Bronze Medalist'': 2015 *Supercupa României: **''Finalist'': 2011 * Bundesliga: **''Winner'': 2016 *DHB-Supercup: **''Winner'': 2016 * Hungarian Championship **''Winner'': 2019,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

* Hungarian Cup: **''Winner'': 2019

Individual awards

* Championnat de France Best Pivot: 2018 * Carpathian Trophy Best Defender:

* All-Star Pivot of the European Championship:

TV 2 Norway TV 2 (''TV to'') is a Norwegian terrestrial television channel. Its headquarters are located in Bergen. TV 2 began test broadcasting on 13 November 1991, and a year later, it was officially launched on 5 September 1992, becoming Norway's first com ...

All-Star Pivot of the European Championship: 2018 * Handball-Planet.com All-Star Pivot: 2018 * All-Star Pivot of the EHF Champions League:

* Carpathian Trophy MVP: 2019 * Supercupa României MVP: 2019INTERVIU , Crina Pintea, MVP-ul primului derby CSM București – SCM Rm. Vâlcea: "Eu îmi doresc să fiu puternică, atât!". Cum se simte după fiecare fază cu câte două-trei adversare în spate?
/ref> * Romanian Handballer of the Year: 2019

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pintea, Crina People from Bacău County 1990 births Living people Romanian female handball players Expatriate handball players Romanian expatriate sportspeople in France Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Romanian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Győri Audi ETO KC players