10 players as well as the MVP of the season were selected after the votes were cast, and the MVP was Norway’s and Vipers Kristiansand’s goalkeeper, Katrine Lunde, who also won the top goalkeeper award.
Lunde has delivered one of the best seasons in her entire career, becoming the first-ever player to win the EHF Champions League Women seven times after Vipers Kristiansand dominated the EHF FINAL4 in Budapest, while also being the shot-stopper with the highest number of saves in the European premium competition last season, 197.
Earlier, Lunde delivered an excellent tournament at the EHF EURO 2022, sealing her sixth gold medal in the competition, which also makes her the most successful player in history at the EHF EURO.
Norway dominate yet again
Norway’s success has rubbed on many of the voters, with four of the 10 players who received awards in the Gala coming from the Scandinavian country, with Lunde being joined by three Team Esbjerg players: right back Nora Mørk; centre back Henny Reistad and line player Vilde Ingstad.
All of them secured nominations due to their excellent performances at the EHF EURO, but the Team Esbjerg contingent – the only team with three players at the EHF Excellence Awards securing trophies – doubled down with some outstanding performances in the EHF Champions League Women.
Reistad, the MVP of the EHF EURO 2022, was also the top scorer of the European premium competition, with 142 goals, 24 more than any other player, having the second-best performance in terms of goals scored in a single season in the history of the competition. She also became the all-time top goal scorer of the EHF FINAL4, with 60 goals in four editions.
Mørk became one of the five players in history with five EHF EURO trophies, as her antics helped Norway secure another gold medal in the continental competition, being the top goal scorer at the EHF EURO 2022, with 50 goals. She also helped Esbjerg secure a place in the EHF FINAL4, finishing the EHF Champions League Women with 76 goals.
Line player Vilde Ingstad, who will move to CSM Bucuresti this summer, was nothing short of outstanding both at the EHF EURO 2022 and in the European premium competition, being an integrant part of her teams on both sides of the ball. She was 15th in the top goal scorer list in the EHF Champions League Women, with 78 goals, the best scoring line player in the competition.
The fourth Esbjerg player to clinch an award was team captain Kathrine Heindahl, who was the best defender of the season. Heindahl had 16 blocks and anchored Esbjerg’s defence, one of the best in the European premium competition, while making the All-Star team at the EHF EURO 2022 where she was the best defender, helping Denmark seal the silver medal.
