Gintaras Savukynas (born 18 February 1971) is a professional Lithuanian handball player, who played in center back position. Savukynas played in the World and European championships with the Lithuania National Handball team as the team captain. In 2005, he officially announced the end of his career as a player, to which he became an assistant coach for the Lithuania men's national handball team, before becoming the head of the national handball team for five years.

Biography

Gintaras Savukynas started his career in Granitas Kauno and played there for long period of time. During that time, they won the Lithuanian Handball League six times and Lithuania Handball Cup five times. In 1996, he was loaned out to GKS Wybrzeze Gdansk, a team in the

Polish Superliga The Polish Superliga, also known as the PGNiG Superliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top men's handball league in Poland. The current champion is Vive Kielce, the most titled Polish handball club, maintaining its position at the top of the tab ...

(the top men's handball league in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

). During the same year, he also moved to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

to play for HC Kristiansand IF. After the successful season in

and during the 1997 World Handball Championship in Japan, Savukynas underwent a knee surgery and finished the recovery season with Kauno Granitas, once again winning the Lithuania Handball League. Savukynas was named MVP of the Lithuania Handball League in 1994 and 1998. After the 1998 season and a successful 1998 European Handball Championship in Italy, Savukynas transferred to UMFA Afturelding in Iceland. While playing for UMFA Afturelding in 1999, he won every possible title in Iceland – Champions Cup, Iceland Handball Cup, Iceland Handball League (for the first and only time in the club history) . In 2000, Savukynas was named as the best offensive player of Iceland Handball league. In 2001, Savukynas moved to play in Switzerland for the top division team TV Zofingen. During that period, Savukynas was one of the top scorers in the league. In 2002, Savukynas went back to play in Lithuania for Vilnius Šviesa where he helped the club win its first ever bronze medal in history. Savukynas was also selected as the MVP of the Lithuania Handball league for a third time. After this season, he moved to play in

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

once again for HC Grotta/KR, where he played until the end of his career.

Coach career

Savukynas became the head coach of HC Viking Malt club in

Panevėžys Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...

after ending his career as a player. The team won the Lithuania Handball Cup for the first time in the club's history. In the second season, they won the Lithuania Handball Cup back to back but lost 2–3 in the Lithuania Handball League final to Kauno Granitas. In the 3rd season (2006), Savukynas won the Lithuania Handball League for the first time as a head coach. They beat Kauno Granitas to end their 16-year dominance in the league. Savukynas was selected as the head coach of the year after winning the title. In 2006, he went to coach ÍB Vestmannaeyja, who were playing in the second Iceland division. During the first season, Savukynas managed to promote the team back to the top division and was selected as the best head coach in the second division. In 2009, he became the head coach of the Lithuania men's national handball team. During the qualifying rounds, the team showed strong character and for 3 times, they were one step away from the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. In 2010, Savukynas was announced as the head coach of newly emerging super club in Belarus

HC Meshkov Brest HC Meshkov Brest (Myashkov Brest, officially A. P. Myashkow Brest Handball Club, ) is a handball club from Brest, Belarus. They currently compete in the Belarusian First League of Handball, in the SEHA League and competed in the EHF Champions ...

. In the first season, the club won Belarus handball cup and finished second in the Belarus handball league. During the second season Savukynas managed to guide the team to the

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Prev ...

quarterfinals, finishing second in the Belarus Handball League and played in the Belarus Cup final. In 2013, he started working in Norway at Bergsøy IL, where he coordinated all the handball functions and also coached the club's men team. After just one season, Savukynas was promoted to the general manager of handball. In 2016, he moved to Finland HC Riihimaen Cocks where he stayed for 3 and a half seasons. In the first season, Cocks managed to qualify for the

group stage for the first time in the club's history, as well as winning the

Baltic Handball League Baltic Handball League is a handball league, where participate the strongest clubs from Baltic states. The league is organized by Baltic Handball Association. The league is established in the beginning of 1990s. Participated clubs Participated cl ...

Finnish Handball League The Finnish SM-liiga is the name of the professional handball league of Finland. Competition Format The season begins with a regular season between the ten teams. The first six teams qualifies for the play-offs, the teams classified four to e ...

and Finland Handball Cup. In the second season, Savukynas repeated the success of the first season, qualifying the team for the

group stage and winning for the 2nd time Baltic Handball League, Finnish Handball League and Finland Handball Cup. In the 3rd season, Riihimaen Cocks debuted in the

EHF Champions League The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men ...

and repeated the treble for the 3rd time - Baltic Handball League, Finnish Handball League and Finland Handball Cup. Savukynas was selected as the best coach in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

twice (2017, 2019). During the 4th season, Savukynas' team played in the

EHF Champions league The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the men ...

once again. In 2020 february, he transferred to

HC Motor Zaporozhye HC Motor Zaporizhzhia is a Ukrainian professional men's handball club who competes in the Ukrainian Men's Handball Super League. History The team "Zaporozhalyuminstroy" was created in 1958 at the trust "Zaporozhalyuminstroy" by the playing co ...

in Ukraine. The club will play in the EHF Champions League group stage in the 2020/2021 season. Gintaras Savukynas won

Honours

As a player

* Lithuanian Handball League champion: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998 * Lithuania handball cup winner: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 * Best Lithuanian Handball League player: 1994, 1998, 2003 * Iceland Handball League champion: 1999 * Iceland handball cup winner: 1999 * Iceland champions cup winner: 1999 * Best offensive player in Iceland Handball League: 2000 * 1997 World Handball Championship Japan 10th place with Lithuania National handball team * 1998 European Handball Championship Italy 9th place with Lithuania National handball team

As a coach

* Lithuanian Handball League champion: 2006 * Lithuania handball cup winner: 2004, 2005 * Best coach of Lithuanian Handball League: 2006 * Promotion to Iceland top division: 2007 * Best coach of Iceland 2nd division: 2007 * Belarus Handball Cup winner: 2011 * Quarter final in

: 2012 * Baltic handball league champion: 2017, 2018, 2019 *

champion: 2017, 2018, 2019 * Finland handball cup winner: 2017, 2018, 2019 *

group stage: 2016–2017, 2017–2018 *

group stage: 2018–2019, 2019–2020, 2020–2021, 2021–2022 * Best coach of

: 2017, 2019 * Ukraine Handball league: 2020, 2021 * Ukraine Handball Cup: 2021 *

SEHA League South East Handball Association League or simply SEHA League is a regional men's club handball league in Southeast and East Europe, divided in two zones. Due to sponsorship reasons, the league is also known as the Gazprom League (or Gazprom South ...

: 3rd place ( 2020-2021)

References

* * * * * *

External links

leballonrond.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Savukynas, Gintaras Lithuanian male handball players 1971 births Living people