Hande Baladın's Career
Hande Baladın started volleyball as a middle player. He was trained in Eczacıbaşı's infrastructure and took part in the club's junior and senior teams. He has been playing as a hitter since 2014. The player, who spent the 2014-2015 season on loan at Sarıyer Belediyespor, was promoted to the A Team at Eczacıbaşı in the 2015-2016 season. Together with Eczacıbaşı, he won many trophies such as the FIVB Club World Championship, CEV Champions League, CEV Cup, Spor Toto Champions Cup.
He played on loan at Galatasaray to gain experience in the 2018-2019 season. He won the Turkish Cup and Turkish Super Cup with Galatasaray. He returned to Eczacıbaşı in the 2019-2020 season. He won the 2020 AXA Sigorta Champions Cup with Eczacıbaşı.
Hande Baladın is one of the important players of the Turkish women's national volleyball team. With the national team, she won the 2013 Junior European Championship Third Place, the 2015 FIVB U23 World Championship Second Place, the 2017 FIVB U23 World Championship Champion, the 2017 CEV European Volleyball Championship Third Place, the 2018 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League Second Place, the 2019 CEV European Volleyball Championship Second Place, the 2020 CEV Tokyo Olympics. She achieved success such as First Place in the European Continental Qualifications, Third Place in the 2021 European Women's Volleyball Championship, 2023 FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League Championship, and 2023 European Women's Volleyball Championship Championship.
Hande Baladın's Individual Achievements
Hande Baladın also received many individual awards throughout her career. Some of these are those:
- 2017 FIVB U23 World Championship – “Most Valuable Player” and “Best Spiker”
- 2013 Junior European Championship – “Best Blocker”
- 2019 CEV European Volleyball Championship – “Best Spiker”
- 2020 CEV Tokyo Olympics European Continental Qualifiers – “Best Spiker”
- 2021 European Women's Volleyball Championship – “Best Spiker”
Hande Baladın's Personal Life
Hande Baladın is 1,90 cm tall and weighs 75 kg. He continues his education at Istanbul Bilgi University Sports Management department. Hande Baladın is an athlete who actively uses social media and has 1,2 million followers on Instagram, 200 thousand followers on Twitter and 1,5 million followers on TikTok. Hande Baladın is an animal lover and has a dog. Hande Baladın is currently single and it is known that she was previously with national volleyball player Metin Toy.
Threat to Hande Balâdın
In 2021, Hande Baladın was harassed by a person named Mustafa Neşeli, who made threats to her on social media such as "I will throw acid on your face, I will scan your car." Hande Baladın filed a complaint against this person and an investigation was launched against him. However, as a result of the investigation, a decision was made not to prosecute. In the justification of the decision, it was stated that "the defendant's action did not constitute the crime of threat, the defendant's action constituted the crime of simple injury, but this crime was dependent on the complaint and the complaint was not filed in time." Hande Baladın objected to this decision and filed a lawsuit. The case is still ongoing.
