Lois Abbingh

Lois Abbingh
Born	(1992-08-13) August 13, 1992 Groningen, Netherlands
Occupation	Professional handball player
Years active	2009–present
Known for	Playing for Borussia Dortmund Handball and the Dutch national team; key player in Netherlands' 2019 World Women's Handball Championship victory

Lois Abbingh (born 13 August 1992) is a professional handball athlete from the Netherlands, currently playing for Borussia Dortmund Handball as well as representing the Dutch national squad. She played a pivotal role in securing the Netherlands' inaugural championship at the 2019 World Women's Handball Championship.

Career

Abbingh's handball journey started at V&S Groningen. In 2009, she transferred to E&O Emmen, where she emerged as the leading scorer of the Eredivisie during the 2009–10 season. Her performance earned her a move to the German Bundesliga club VfL Oldenburg, with whom she claimed the 2012 DHB-Pokal title.

In 2014, she joined Romanian club HCM Baia Mare, capturing the Romanian Cup in 2015. Subsequently, she played for French side Issy Paris Hand before signing with Russian team Rostov-Don in 2018, where she secured consecutive Russian championship victories in 2019 and 2020.

Abbingh moved to Danish outfit Odense Håndbold in 2020, contributing to their Danish league titles in 2021 and 2022, as well as winning the Danish Cup in 2020. The squad included several fellow Dutch internationals such as Larissa Nüsser and Dione Housheer. She took a career break in March 2022 for maternity leave.

In 2023, Abbingh signed with Norwegian club Vipers Kristiansand, helping them win both the Norwegian league and cup during her first season. After the club declared bankruptcy in January 2025, she transferred to German side Borussia Dortmund Handball, agreeing to a one-and-a-half-year contract.

National team

Abbingh was instrumental for the Dutch team at the 2011 Women's 19 European Handball Championship, where they finished runners-up after a close 27–29 defeat to Denmark. She was the tournament’s top scorer with 65 goals.

She has competed in six editions of the World Women's Handball Championship, earning silver in Denmark 2015, bronze in Germany 2017, and gold at Japan 2019. Additionally, she took part in four European Women's Handball Championship tournaments, winning silver at Sweden 2016. Abbingh also represented her country at two Olympic Games, finishing fourth at Rio 2016 and fifth at Tokyo 2020.

At the 2017 World Championship, she was selected for the All-Star team as best Left Back and ranked second among top scorers with 58 goals. During the final of the 2019 World Championship, she converted the decisive penalty that clinched a narrow 30:29 win over Spain. She ended that tournament as top scorer with 71 goals and maintained a shooting accuracy of 62%.

Abbingh also participated in the 2020 Summer Olympics, where the Netherlands finished fifth. At the 2024 Olympics, she had the honor of being one of the Dutch flag bearers alongside basketball player Worthy de Jong. The team again secured a fifth-place finish.

In November 2025, she declared her intention to retire from international competition following the conclusion of the 2025 World Women's Handball Championship, alongside teammate Estavana Polman.

Achievements

• DHB-Pokal:
  • Champion: 2012
• Baia Mare Champions Trophy:
  • Champion: 2014
• Cupa României:
  • Champion: 2015
• Russian Championship:
  • Champion: 2019, 2020
• Danish Handball League:
  • Champion: 2021, 2022
• Danish Handball Cup:
  • Champion: 2020
• Norwegian League:
  • Champion: 2023/24
• Norwegian Cup:
  • Champion: 2023/24

Awards and recognition

• Top Scorer, Eredivisie: 2010
• Leading Scorer, European Women's Junior Handball Championship: 2011
• All-Star Left Back, World Women's Handball Championship: 2017
• Top Scorer, World Women's Handball Championship: 2019
• Handball-Planet.com All-Star Left Back of the Year: 2019
• MVP, Danish Handball Cup: 2020

External links

• Lois Abbingh at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived)