Vardar's centre back is going to compete with 4 other big names in handball for the best player in the world award. Luka Cindric has been instrumental for Vardar in 2017, often being their best player on the court. His playmaking abilities, as well as scoring goals at crucial times solidified his status as one of the most talented players we have in today's game.

Cindric started the year by coming fourth at the World Championship in France with the Croatian national team. He was one of the best players on the team, and proved to be one of the rising stars of Croatian handball. The 24-year old then went on to lead Vardar to many historic accomplishments. The Macedonians won the SEHA - Gazprom League, beating Veszprem in the final and won every 2017 match in the 17/18 SEHA season. He scored the winning goal in the Champions League semi-final and at last won the Champions League defeating PSG in the final match. Vardar and Luka Cindric also won the Macedonian League and Cup and managed to stay undefeated in this season's Champions League.

Cindric undoubtedly had an incredible year, but will face heavy competition. Domagoj Duvnjak (Croatia, THW Kiel), Andy Schmid (Switzerland, Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Nikola Karabatic (France, Paris Saint-Germain) and Sander Sagosen (Norway, Paris Saint-Germain) are the other nominees. You can vote on the official IHF's website.