Bojana Popović
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born |
20 November 1979 Niš, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Montenegrin | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Playing position | Left back | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior clubs | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–1998 1998–2002 2002–2007 2007–2010 2010–2012 |
RK DIN Niš Budućnost Slagelse DT Viborg HK Budućnost | ||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Montenegro | 56 (311) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Bojana Popović, née Petrović (Serbian Cyrillic: Бојана Поповић) (born 20 November 1979)[1] is a Montenegrin handballer.[2] She is considered by many to be the best female handball player of the past two decades, despite not being given any official recognition.[3] After winning the Women's EHF Champions League with Budućnost[4] and a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games with the Montenegro national team,[5] Bojana Popović decided to retire from handball. However, in June 2016 Popović announced she would come out of retirement and make herself available for selection by the Montenegro national handball team to compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[6][7][8]
Career
Bojana Popović started playing handball at Serbian club HC Naisa Niš when she was eleven years old.[1] She later played for Montenegrin club Budućnost Podgorica for four seasons.[9] In 2002, Popović signed a contract with Danish team Slagelse DT, at that time coached by Anja Andersen. With Slagelse, she experienced great success: three times Champions League winner, EHF Cup winner, three Danish Championship golds and one Danish Cup.
At the end of the 2006/07 season, Popović signed a contract with Viborg HK.[10] Since her arrival at Viborg, she has won two Danish Championship golds and two Danish Cups. In 2009 she won her fourth Champions League title, the first with Viborg.
Team results
- Club
- Winner 2003 (Slagelse)
- Gold 2003, 2005 and 2007 (Slagelse); 2008, 2009 and 2010 (Viborg)
- Danish Cup
- Winner 2003 (Slagelse); 2007 and 2008 (Viborg)
- Serbian and Montenegrian Championship
- Winner 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 (Buducnost Podgorica)
- Serbian and Montenegrian Cup
- Winner 2000, 2001 and 2002 (Buducnost Podgorica)
- National team
- World Championship 2001
- Bronze medal (Yugoslavia)
- Summer Olympics 2012
- Silver medal
Awards and recognition
Bojana Popović is considered to be the best player in the world by many.[9][10][11] She has been chosen Player of the Year by the Danish Handball Federation four times. Popović's individual awards and achievements include:
- Player of the year in Denmark in 2004, 2005, 2007[10] and 2008[12]
- Topscorer of the Danish League 2003/04 and 2004/05[13]
- Topscorer of the Champions League in 2004, 2005 and 2007[14]
- "Cup Fighter" (Danish: Pokalfighter) 2008[15]
- Montenegrin Sportperson of the Year: 2012
References
- 1 2 "Spillerprofiler, damer - Bojana Popovic" (in Danish). Viborg HK A/S. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ↑ "Wall of Fame - Bojana Popovic". Infostrada Sports. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ↑ "Bojana Popovic retires from club handball". EHF. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ↑ "Buducnost win the EHF Women's Champions League 2011/12". EHF. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ↑ "Norway beat Montenegro to women's gold". BBC. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
- ↑ "Popovic returns to play in Rio". EHF. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
- ↑ "EHF Champions League 2008/09 - Bojana Popovic". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ↑ "Spisak "lavica" - od 1979. do 1997. godišta". Vijesti. 17 July 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
- 1 2 Jončić, Saša (21 November 2007). "Popovic experiences Moraca's atmosphere again". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- 1 2 3 Bruun, Peter (4 May 2007). "Popovic: Player of the Year". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ↑ Jončić, Saša (24 March 2009). "Successful operation". European Handball Federation. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ↑ "Bojana årets kvindelige håndboldspiller". Viborg HK (in Danish). 10 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-21.
- ↑ "Topscorere siden 1965 - Damer" (in Danish). Danish Handball Federation. 9 July 2008. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-15.
- ↑ "Golden Goodbye of Top Scorer". European Handball Federation. 22 May 2007. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
- ↑ "Pokalfightere gennem tiden" (in Danish). Danish Handball Federation. 6 January 2009. Archived from the original on 28 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
External links
| Awards | ||
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| Preceded by Srđan Mrvaljević |
Montenegrin Sportperson of the Year 2012 (with Katarina Bulatović) |
Succeeded by Nikola Janović |
| Olympic Games | ||
| Preceded by Srđan Mrvaljević |
Flagbearer for  MontenegroRio de Janeiro 2016 |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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