Crina Pintea

Crina Elena Pintea (née Ailincăi; born 3 April 1990) is a Romanian professional handballer who plays as a pivot for CSM București and the Romanian national team.^[1]

Crina Pintea
Pintea in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Crina Elena Pintea
Born	(1990-04-03) 3 April 1990 (age 33) Podu Turcului, Romania
Nationality	Romanian
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Line player
Club information
Current club	CSM București
Number	77
Youth career
Years	Team
2006–2007	Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea
2007–2009	ONOE Râmnicu Vâlcea
Senior clubs
Years	Team
2009–2015	HC Zalău
2015–2017	Thüringer HC
2017–2018	Paris 92
2018–2019	Győri ETO KC
2019–2021	CSM București
2021–2022	Győri ETO KC
2022–	CSM București
National team
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–	Romania	79	(120)
Medal record World Championship 2015 Denmark

Considered to be one of the best pivots in the world, in 2019 she was named to the EHF Champions League All-Star Team. In 2018, 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.^[2]

Early life

Born in Bacău County, in the village of Podu Turcului, she is the oldest of four children.^[3] She did not practice seriously any sport until age 16.^[4]

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. She was also the runner-up of the 2011–12 EHF Cup competition. In October 2015, following a lengthy dispute over a new contract, she was signed by Thüringer HC. 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 ETO KC under Ambros Martín's leadership,^[5] and helped the club win treble in 2018–19. Győr allowed Crina Pintea to leave the club at the end of the season, honouring a gentlemen's agreement. In the summer 2019, CSM București announced that they have signed Pintea after only half a year with ETO.^[6]

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:
  • Bronze Medalist: 2015
• Supercupa României:
  • Finalist: 2011
• Bundesliga:
  • Winner: 2016
• DHB-Supercup:
  • Winner: 2016
• Hungarian Championship
  • Winner: 2019, 2022
• Hungarian Cup:
  • Winner: 2019

Individual awards

• Championnat de France Best Pivot: 2018
• Carpathian Trophy Best Defender: 2018
• All-Star Pivot of the European Championship: 2018^[7]
• TV 2 Norway All-Star Pivot of the European Championship: 2018^[8]
• Handball-Planet.com All-Star Pivot: 2018^[9]
• All-Star Pivot of the EHF Champions League: 2019
• Carpathian Trophy MVP: 2019
• Supercupa României MVP: 2019^[10]
• Romanian Handballer of the Year: 2019

References

1. "Crina Elena Pintea Profile". European Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
2. Premii pentru Crina Pintea și Mihai Popescu – Federația Română de Handbal a desemnat cei mai buni handbaliști ai anuluir
3. "Crina Pintea: Au meritat toate sacrificiile și toate lacrimile mele - Neinvinsii | Lead.ro".
4. "Povestea incredibilă a unei jucătoare de națională » Viața trăită de Crina Pintea, cea care s-a apucat de handbal la 16 ani: "Am dat cu coasa, am săpat, am muls oile!"".
5. "Poziţia CSM București după transferul Crinei Pintea la Gyor: "S-a discutat cu jucătoarea, face parte din strategia clubului. Nu a fost o concurenţă cu Gyor. Oricare dintre componentele echipei naţionale sunt în planurile de viitor"". Prosport. 15 December 2018.
6. "Prima reacţie a Crinei Pintea după ce transferul ei la CSM București a devenit oficial şi perioada pe care se va întinde contractul" (in Romanian). Prosport. 1 March 2019.
7. "Stalwarts of nine teams make the EHF Euro 2018 All-Star Team". fra2018.ehf-euro.com. 16 December 2018.
8. "Sorry, Stine! Denne fortjente du ikke". TV 2 Norge (in Norwegian). 17 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
9. "WORLD FEMALE HANDBALL BEST 8 IN 2018". Handball-Planet. 31 January 2019.
10. INTERVIU | 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?

External links

• Crina Pintea at the European Handball Federation 
• Crina Pintea at the Ligue Féminine de Handball (in French)