Stine Nørklit Lønborg: “The whole city will be behind us at the EHF Finals”

“I’m really proud of what we have achieved this season already, but the job is not over. We know that the month of May is full of finals, in every competition, and there is no room to calculate,” explains Danish centre back Stine Lønborg.

In her fourth season with the club, Lønborg has impressed, earning her first caps for the Danish national team in March.

“I feel like I have made so much progress on and off the court since I arrived here. Me and Dijon are really a perfect match,” she says. “I learnt a new language and a new culture and I love the city here, the people and the food. But, as a player, I really like it how they play in France, with faster pace and dynamics.”

Playing with confidence, Lønborg admits that she is now “more aware of my strengths. I have worked a lot on them but also on the things I felt I was less good at, and I feel like I am definitely a better handball player now than four years ago.”

It is no wonder that she is so far the best JDA Dijon scorer in the EHF European League Women 2025/26, with 56 goals since the start of the group phase and another six in qualification. In the absence of fellow Danish centre back Nadia Mielke-Offendal, Lønborg has stepped up, scoring a combined 20 goals in the quarter-finals against HC Lokomotiva Zagreb.

“I need, of course, maybe to do a little bit more, as we have quite a lot of injured players, but it’s the same for everyone,” she says.

But even though she might have more time on the court, Lønborg says she can feel the energy from her absent teammates.

“They are with us and they cheer for us. It’s really important for everyone to be involved in these moments because we need all the energy you can take.”

Speaking of energy, JDA Dijon will need some when the city hosts the EHF Finals Dijon metropole on 16/17 May. While the team finished third last year, losing 29:35 to Thüringer HC in the semi-final, Lønborg expects the support from their fans in the Palais des Sports to make a difference this time.

“To play such an event in Dijon in an extraordinary thing, all of our families and our fans will be able to support us and push us as far as possible,” she says. “The whole city will be behind us and you can already feel the anticipation among the fans.”

Dijon has been, over the last years, one of the hardest fortress to conquer across Europe. And playing in front of so many fans might be a little bit of an energy boost at the end of a long season, that saw JDA start their campaign in qualification round 3.

“Maybe I am a little biased, but I feel like we have one of the best support from out fans that I have seen. All these people, they push us so much that it is a whole completely different game when we play in front of them.”

While playing important games is something that they are growing used to, JDA Dijon are yet to lift a title. They will have two more opportunities in the next month as they will not only play the EHF Finals, but also the French Cup final at the end of May, against Metz Handball.

And the experience from the last two seasons, when they played both events but did not make it to the top, might come in handy.

“I feel like we have grown up in our approach to decisive games. I am sure we can definitely use this, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on our shoulders either. We are already very proud of what we have achieved already, and we only want to end up even prouder,” Lønborg concludes.

Photos © Foxaep; Antonio Mrkoci