Yeliz Özel (born 6 March 1980, in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

) is a Turkish handballer, who plays for

İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi GSK İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyespor ( tr, İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi Spor Kulübü) is a multi-sports club established 1979 in İzmir, Turkey by the city's metropolitan municipality ( tr, İzmir Büyükşehir Belediyesi). The club's colors a ...

and the Turkish national team. She is widely considered best handball player ever from Turkey.

Playing career

Club

She started her career in Ankara team PTT, played first European Cup level matches same year. With outstanding skills in game-reading, Yeliz labelled as a 'prominent young talent' by several handball experts. She transferred to Norway League for

Byåsen HE Byåsen Håndball Elite is the women's handball team of the Norwegian multi-sports club Byåsen IL based in Trondheim. The team plays in Eliteserien, the top division in the country, since its promotion in 1982. The team's first success came as ...

in Trondheim, played there one full season. Then she back to Turkey to play in Eskisehir Anadolu University and Uskudar Belediyesi SK. In 2004, Yeliz went to Skopje to playing for

Kometal Gjorče Petrov Skopje WHC Gjorche Petrov ( mk, Ракометен Клуб Ѓорче Петров) is a female handball club based in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia. History The club was founded in 1979 under the name ''Women's Handball Club Gjorče Petrov ...

. After a brilliant stint there, she was one of the best players of

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 ...

2004–05 season. She scored 61 goals and made a huge contribution to promote her team final. In June 2010, Yeliz Özel signed for

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

's top club

CS Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea CS, C-S, C.S., Cs, cs, or cs. may refer to: Job titles * Chief Secretary (Hong Kong) * Chief superintendent, a rank in the British and several other police forces * Company secretary, a senior position in a private sector company or public s ...

. Played two season in Romania, then she returned again to her home country back. Özel returned home in June 2012 to rejoin her former team Üsküdar Belediyespor. After one season, she transferred to the

-based team Yenimahalle Bld. SK.

International

Özel was a member of the

Turkey women's national handball team The Turkey women's national handball team is the national team handball, handball team of Turkey for women and is controlled by the Turkey Handball Federation. Achievements Mediterranean Games * Handball at the 2001 Mediterranean Games, 2 ...

, and served as their captain. She was part of the team, which won the silver medal at the

2009 Mediterranean Games The 2009 Mediterranean Games, officially the XVI Mediterranean Games ( it, XVI Giochi del Mediterraneo) and commonly known as Pescara 2009, was a multi-sport event held in Pescara, Italy, from 26 June to 5 July 2009. It was governed by the Inter ...

held in

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

, Italy.

Honours

;

Turkish Women's Handball Super League The Turkish Women's Handball Super League ( tr, Türkiye Kadınlar Hentbol Süper Ligi) is the top professional league for Turkish women's handball clubs. It is administered by the Turkey Handball Federation, and the winners are recognized as Tu ...

* ''Winners'' (5): 2003–04, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2014–15 * ''Runners-up'' (2): 2012–13, 2013–14 ;

Women's EHF Champions League The Women's EHF Champions League is the competition for the top women's handball clubs in Europe, organised annually by the European Handball Federation (EHF). It is the most prestigious tournament for clubs, with the champions of Europe's top n ...

* ''Runner-up'' (1): 2004–05 ;

Handball at the Mediterranean Games Handball has been played consistently at the Mediterranean Games since the year 1967 for men except in 1971 and since the year 1979 for women except 1983. The Yugoslavian national handball team is the most successful men's team and the French w ...

* ''Runner-up'' (1): 2009

References

External links

EHF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozel, Yeliz 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Ankara Turkish female handball players Expatriate handball players Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Norway Turkish expatriate sportspeople in Romania Turkish expatriate sportspeople in North Macedonia SCM Râmnicu Vâlcea (handball) players Üsküdar Belediyespor players Yenimahalle Bld. SK (women's handball) players Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Turkey Competitors at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Competitors at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in handball 21st-century Turkish sportswomen