Vasily Kudinov

A left backcourt player, Vasily Kudinov started his professional career with his local club, Dynamo Astrakhan, in 1987, winning the 1990 Soviet title with them. From 1993-97 Kudinov played in France with US Ivry and won the French title in 1997 and the French Cup in 1996. From 1997-2001, Kudinov played in Germany, first with VfL Hameln until 2000 and then one season with SC Magdeburg. With Magdeburg, he won both the German title and EHF Cup in 2001. In 2001-04 Kudinov played in Japan, with Honda Suzuka, winning three consecutive Japanese titles in 2002-04, before finishing his career again with Dynamo Astrakhan in 2004-05.

After winning gold at the 1989 World Junior Championships, Kudinov was selected for the Soviet national team in 1990 and played with them (and then the Russian national team) for 14 seasons, through the 2004 Olympics. He won Olympic golds in 1992 and 2000, adding a bronze in 2004, and was also a World Champion in 1993 and 1997, with a silver at the 1999 Worlds. He helped win a European Championship in 1996, taking silver in 1994 and bronze in 2000. Kudinov was the top goalscorer with 50 goals at the 1994 European Championships and was selected to the all-star team as the best left backcourt player at the 1994 Europeans and 1997 and 1999 Worlds. After finishing his sporting career, Kudinov worked as a children’s coach with Zarya Kaspiya in Astrakhan. His son Sergey also played on the Russian handball team, starting in 2014.