Stefan Sunajko
| Stefan Sunajko | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Born |
10 April 1998 Sombor, Serbia, FR Yugoslavia | ||
| Nationality | Serbian / Hungarian | ||
| Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Playing position | Left wing | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | PLER-Budapest | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
2010–2013 | RK Grafičar Bezdan | ||
2013–2016 | RK Crvenka | ||
| Senior clubs | |||
| Years | Team | ||
2016–2020 |
 MOL-Pick Szeged | ||
2019–2020 |
→  IK Sävehof (loan) | ||
2020–2022 |
Grundfos Tatabánya KC | ||
2022–2023 |
 RK Dinamo Pančevo | ||
2023–2024 |
RK Vojvodina | ||
2024– |
PLER-Budapest | ||
| National team | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2021– | Hungary | 11 | (27) |
Stefan Sunajko (Serbian Cyrillic: Стефан Сунајко, Hungarian: Szunajko Stefán; born 10 April 1998) is a Serbian-Hungarian handball player for PLER-Budapest and for the Hungarian national team.
Career
[edit]Club
[edit]The left winger previously played for the Serbian RK Grafičar Bezdan and RK Crvenka, then in 2016 he moved to MOL-Pick Szeged.[1] Coach Juan Carlos Pastor seriously counted on the 18-year-old Serbian-Hungarian boy, expected him in the senior team, used him in a league match at the end of November, and immediately scored his first top-flight goal. Not long after that, he also made his debut in the EHF Champions League, scoring against Sweden's IFK Kristianstad. In the MOL-Pick Szeged team, he scored 70 goals in 43 games in the first division in 3 years. Played on loan in the 2019/2020 season in the Swedish team IK Sävehof.[2] Here in the EHF Champions League, he scored 28 goals in 10 games. In April 2020, Grundfos Tatabánya KC announced that it had signed the player for 2 years.[3] Here he was able to play in the EHF European League and scored 52 goals in 19 games in 2 years. When his contract expired in 2022, he moved to Serbia to RK Dinamo Pančevo.[4] In the season, he and his team finished fourth in the Serbian Handball Super League (scoring 128 goals in 29 matches), reached the top 16 in the EHF European Cup (scored 26 times in eight matches), and won a silver medal in the Serbian Cup. At the end of the 2022/23 season, the Serbian champion team will be transferred to RK Vojvodina.[5] In September 2024, he continued his career at PLER-Budapest in the Hungarian top flight, where his brother Filip also became his teammate.[6]
National team
[edit]The Serbia men's national youth handball team participated in the 2016 Youth European Championship, they finished eighth, excelled individually, and were selected for the tournament's dream team. He appeared 35 times in the Serbian junior national team. The captain of the Hungarian national team, István Gulyás, also noticed his performance at the IK Sävehof, and invited him to the national team meeting in October 2019.[7] He played for the Hungarian national team for the first time at the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship: Hungary-Cape Verde 34–27 on January 15, 2021 (scored 4 goals).[8] He scored 14 goals in 5 matches at the 2021 World Men's Handball Championship. He was also a member of the 2022 European Men's Handball Championship squad,[9] but he did not play in a single match at the European Championship. He was included in the large squad of the 2023 World Men's Handball Championship,[10] but in the end he will not become a member of the narrow squad.
Personal life
[edit]Stefan's father is Serbian, his mother is Hungarian, and he can claim to be a citizen of both countries. He has an older brother, Filip Sunajko, who is also a professional handball player and plays as a central back.
Honours
[edit]Club
[edit]- MOL-Pick Szeged
- Grundfos Tatabánya KC
- Nemzeti Bajnokság I:
Bronze: 2021
- RK Dinamo Pančevo
- Serbian Cup:
Silver: 2023
- RK Vojvodina
- Serbian League:
Gold: 2024
- Serbian Cup:
- Silver: 2024
Individual
[edit]- All-Star Left Wing of the Youth European Championship: 2016
References
[edit]- ^ "Férfi kézi: 195 centis szerb balszélsőt igazolt a Szeged - NSO". NSO.hu. 14 April 2016.
- ^ "Külföldi BL-csapatba igazolt két magyar kézis". 25 July 2019.
- ^ D, M. (30 April 2020). "Férfi kézi: a Veszprém fiatal szélsője is Tatabányán folytatja - NS". NSO.hu.
- ^ P, MTI/R (9 August 2022). "Férfi kézi: két magyarral erősített a Dinamo Pancsevo - NSO". NSO.hu.
- ^ "Férfi kézi: Szerbián belül váltott klubot a 11-szeres magyar váloga". NSO.hu. 23 June 2023.
- ^ https://www.nemzetisport.hu/kezilabda/2024/09/ferfi-kezi-testvere-csapatahoz-igazolt-a-magyar-valogatott-sunajko-stefan
- ^ P, N. (13 November 2019). "Férfi kézi: a Sävehof légiósa a válogatott kapujában - NSO". NSO.hu.
- ^ percre), NEDELYKOV TAMÁS (összefoglaló), HATÁR DÁVID (percről (15 January 2021). "Férfi kézilabda-vb: Magyarország–Zöld-foki-szigetek - NSO". NSO.hu.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Végleges a magyar férfi kézilabda-válogatott Eb-kerete". 8 January 2022.
- ^ "Férfi kézi-vb: Chema Rodríguez kapitány bő keretet hirdetett - NSO". NSO.hu. 29 November 2022.
External links
[edit]- Stefan Sunajko at EHF (in English)
- Stefan Sunajko at MKSZ (in Hungarian)
- Stefan Sunajko on Facebook
- Stefan Sunajko on Instagram
- 1998 births
- Living people
- Hungarian male handball players
- Serbian male handball players
- Serbian people of Hungarian descent
- SC Pick Szeged players
- Tatabánya KC players
- Hungarian people of Serbian descent
- Sportspeople from Sombor
- Hungarian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
- Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden
- Expatriate handball players in Sweden
- Serbian expatriate handball players
- Hungarian expatriate handball players
- 21st-century Hungarian sportsmen