Siraba Dembélé Pavlović

Siraba Dembélé Pavlović (née Siraba Dembélé; born 28 June 1986) is a French retired professional handballer who most recently played as a left wing for CSM București^[1] and is a retired captain for the French national team,^[2] where she has won both the World Championship and European Championship.

Siraba Dembélé Pavlović
Pavlović in 2015
Personal information
Born	(1986-06-28) 28 June 1986 (age 39) Dreux, France
Nationality	French
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Playing position	Left wing
Club information
Current club	CSM București
Number	28
Youth career
Years	Team
1996-2003	HBC Vallée d'Avre
Senior clubs
Years	Team
2003–2004	Dreux AC
2004–2008	Mérignac Handball
2008–2009	Issy-les-Moulineaux
2009–2012	Toulon Saint-Cyr
2012–2013	Randers HK
2013–2016	HC Vardar
2016–2018	Rostov-Don
2018–2020	Toulon Saint-Cyr
2020–2023	CSM București
National team 1
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2021	France	291	(848)
Medal record Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team World Championship 2017 Germany 2009 China 2011 Brazil European Championship 2018 France 2020 Denmark 2016 Sweden Mediterranean Games 2009 Pescara Team
1 National team caps and goals correct as of 22 June 2023

She has played the 2nd most matches for the French national team ever, behind Isabelle Wendling and scored the 2nd most goals for the French national team behind Véronique Pecqueux-Rolland.

Career

Pavlović started playing handball in 1996 at Vallée d'Avre. In 2003 she and the club was promoted to Nationale 3, the 5th tier of French handball. In 2003, she joined Dreux AC and a year later the elite club Mérignac Handball. She debuted in the French top league on September 18th 2004 against Fleury. She then played for Issy-les-Moulineaux for a year before joining Toulon Saint-Cyr Var Handball. Here, she won the French championship in 2010 and the French cup in 2011 and 2012.

In 2012, she joined the Danish club Randers HK. In 2013, she joined Macedonian RK Vardar. Here, she won the Macedonian league and cup double in 2014, 2015, and 2016.

In 2016, she joined Rostov-Don.^[3] Here, she won the EHF European League in 2017 and the Russian championship in 2017 and 2018.

In 2018, she returned to Toulon Saint-Cyr Var Handball.^[4]

In 2020, she joined Romanian CSM București.^[5] In April 2021 she ruptured her ACL.^[6] With CSM București, she won the Romanian championship in 2021 and 2023 and the Romanian cup in 2022 and 2023. After the 2022/23 season, she retired.^[7]

National team

Pavlović debuted for the national team on May 26, 2006 against Turkey. She reached the final of the 2012 Olympics with the French team.

In 2017, she won the World Championship in Germany. On that occasion, she was included the tournament all-star team.^[8]

She won another gold medal for France at the 2018 European Women's Handball Championship at home.^[9] This was the first time France won the tournament.

She retired from the national team in 2021, two years before retiring from profesional handball all together.^[10]

International honours

• EHF Cup:
  • Winner: 2017
• EHF Challenge Cup:
  • Finalist: 2008
• World Championship:
  • Winner: 2017
  • Silver Medalist: 2009, 2011
• European Championship:
  • Winner: 2018
  • Bronze Medalist: 2006, 2016
• Olympic Games:
  • Silver Medalist: 2016

Individual awards

• All-Star Left Wing of the EHF Champions League: 2015, 2018
• All-Star Left Wing of the Championnat de France: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012
• Championnat de France MVP: 2011

Personal life

In November 2019, she gave birth to twins. Her husband is the Montenegrin ex football goalkeeper Igor Pavlović.^[11]

She is of Malian descent. Among her family, Rasanké (a dialect closely related to Bambara) is spoken.^[12]