THE FIRST EUROPEAN CHOICE: Kosuke Yasuhira to Return to Ohrid in 2027
He was HC Ohrid’s true “joker” in the final stretch of a season that ended with historic success – winning the EHF Cup – and the fans at the “Biljanini Izvori” hall will have the chance to watch him in the future as well! Japanese centre back Kosuke Yasuhira has signed a two-year contract with the Macedonian team starting from the summer of 2027.
His current contract with Kuwait’s Burgan remains in force, meaning European handball will be deprived of the Asian playmaker’s magic for one more year, but his first destination upon returning to the Old Continent will be Ohrid.
The 26-year-old Yasuhira won the hearts of Ohrid’s supporters, who even organised a petition calling for him to stay at the club. And no wonder, as he quickly adapted to the system of coach Boris Rojević, with nine goals in the decisive final match against Tatabanya, won 31:25, serving as the best proof.
Ohrid also came close to winning the Macedonian Cup trophy, with Yasuhira, alongside Strmljan and Pilipović, keeping the team in contention until the final attack in the defeat to Vardar.
All of this led to Yasuhira being named among the TOP 5 best transfers in European handball last season.
While Ohrid are still waiting for a decision on whether they will play in the EHF European League or the EHF Cup, it is already known that Dino Slavić, Adam Keita, Nikola Zečević, Dominik Máté, Shuichi Yoshida, Martin Ivanovski and Martin Karapalevski will wear the blue jersey.
Those who have left the club are Kristijan Pilipović, Vuko Borozan, Stefan Petrić, Vladimir Bojanić, Dejan Kukulovski, Gianfranco Pribetić and, for next season, Kosuke Yasuhira, who has a return ticket booked for the future.
