Sakura Hauge, also known as , is a Norwegian-born Japanese

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 ...

goalkeeper for

ESBF Besançon ESBF Besançon is a French women's handball club based in Besançon. They play in the French Women's First League. Honours * French Women's First League: **''Gold:'' 1988, 1998, 2001, 2003 **''Bronze:'' 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 20 ...

and the Japanese national team.

Club career

Hauge began her career playing for the

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

-based club

IL Gneist IL Gneist is a sports club from Ytrebygda, Bergen, Norway founded on December 16, 1945. It has several branches, including association football, handball, athletics, gymnastics, orienteering, climbing and volleyball Volleyball is a team ...

, before joining the club

Stabæk IF Stabæk Idrætsforening is a Norwegian multi-sports club in Bærum, a municipality bordering on Oslo in the west. It has sections for football, bandy, handball and alpine skiing. While the football team Stabæk Fotball is the most prominent, the m ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. After Stabæk, she played for

Nordstrand IF Nordstrand Idrettsforening is a sports club in Nordstrand, Oslo, Norway. The club has sections for alpine skiing, association football and handball. It formerly had sections for orienteering, track and field and Nordic skiing. The club colors ...

. Beginning in 2007, Hauge played for the club

Tertnes HE Tertnes Håndball Elite is the women's handball team of the Norwegian multi-sports club Tertnes IL based in Bergen. The team plays in REMA 1000-ligaen, the top division in the country, since its promotion in 1992. Results Norway * REMA 1000-liga ...

in Bergen for seven seasons. In 2014, she joined the club

Vipers Kristiansand Vipers Kristiansand is a handball club from Kristiansand, Norway. They currently compete in REMA 1000-ligaen, the top division in the country, since its promotion in 2001. They claimed there first Norwegian Championship in 2018, defeating 18 tim ...

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

, signing a two-year contract. Hauge signed a new two-year contract with Vipers Kristiansand in 2016.

National teams

From 2003 to 2005 Hauge played eight matches for the Norway women's national

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

handball team. Before that she had played 14 matches for the junior handball team. Although amongst the players chosen for the

Norway women's national handball team The Norway women's national handball team represents Norway at international handball competitions, and is governed by the Norges Håndballforbund (NHF). As of 2022, Norway has been in 24 finals and is regard ...

in the

2010 European Women's Handball Championship The 2010 European Women's Handball Championship was held in Denmark and Norway from 7–19 December. It was the first European Championship hosted by two countries. Norway won their overall 5th gold medal, when they defeated first time finalist S ...

, and being a candidate for the Norwegian team at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, she then did not play for Norway on a national level before 2014. In 2014 Hauge played two recruit level matches against Sweden, in one of which she was declared

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. In the early 2010s Hauge suffered from

jumper's knee Patellar tendinitis, also known as jumper's knee, is an overuse injury of the tendon that straightens the knee. Symptoms include pain in the front of the knee. Typically the pain and tenderness is at the lower part of the kneecap, though the upp ...

. Citing disillusionment with her lack of prospects at the Norwegian national team, Hauge joined the

Japan women's national handball team The Japan women's national handball team is the national handball team of Japan and is controlled by the Japan Handball Association. Results Summer Olympics *1976 – 5th *2020 – 12th World Championship *1962 – 9th *1965 – 7th *1971 – 9th ...

in 2015, having contacted the Japanese team the previous year. When playing for Japan, she is known as Sakura Kametani. She played three matches for Japan in the

2015 World Women's Handball Championship The 2015 IHF World Women's Handball Championship, the 22nd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Denmark. The decision to select Denmark as the host was announced on 27 January 2011. In the final Norway won 31–23 ag ...

in Denmark, where Japan ended on 19th place. In the

2017 World Women's Handball Championship The 2017 IHF World Women's Handball Championship, the 23rd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Germany from 1 to 17 December 2017. Germany was the only applicant for this championship. Germany was host of the World C ...

in Germany, she was the leading goalkeeper throughout the tournament for

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. She played all 6 matches and also scored her first goal for the national team. In the last match, the eight-finals against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, she was named player of the match after Japan lost 24–26 after extra time.

Achievements

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. Previ ...

: **''Finalist'':

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 ...

* Norwegian League: **''Winner'': 2017/2018 (Vipers) *Norwegian Cup: **''Winner'': 2017 **''Finalist'': 2013 *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

: **''Winner:''

Carpathian Trophy The Carpathian Trophy ( ro, 'Trofeul Carpaţi') is an annual men's and women's friendly handball tournament organised by the Romanian Handball Federation The Romanian Handball Federation ( ro, Federaţia Română de Handbal) (FRH) is the governin ...

: **''Winner:'' 2019

Individual awards

Best Goalkeeper: 2019

Personal life

Hauge was born in Bergen, Norway, to a Japanese mother and a Norwegian father. She grew up in her father's home town of Bergen. In primary and secondary school, she received

Japanese language is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been ma ...

lessons (mother tongue instruction). During her childhood, the family would holiday in Hauge's mother's home town of

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

. From age 15 to 20, she lived in Oslo.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hauge, Sakura 1987 births Living people Norwegian female handball players Japanese female handball players Sportspeople from Bergen Norwegian people of Japanese descent Japanese people of Norwegian descent Expatriate handball players Handball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players for Japan