Suzanne Wajoka: “I am staying true to myself”

Suzanne Wajoka is a left wing who has suddenly started to fly high. 2025 was her breakthrough year. She earned a transfer from ESBF Besançon to Metz Handball; made her debut in the French national team as the first-ever player from New Caledonia to do so; competed in the EHF Champions League Women for the first time; and won bronze at the IHF Women’s World Championship.

“This year has been one of the best of my career so far,” Wajoka tells eurohandball.com.

“It is true that when I started with Metz, it was a bit complicated, especially when I discovered the level of the Champions League. But as time went on, I was able to adapt and improve, and I think that was evident at the World Championship.”

Wajoka ended up as France’s third-best shooter at the worlds, with 35 goals; only her Metz teammates Sarah Bouktit (44) and Lucie Granier (36) found the net more times.

But when it comes to shot efficiency, Wajoka was France’s No. 1, having needed just 39 attempts for her 35 goals, an efficiency rate of 89.7 per cent. Only Germany’s Lisa Antl (94.7 per cent) and Denmark’s Elma Halilcevic (90 per cent) did better in that respect.

“I was able to show that there is potential in New Caledonia,” Wajoka reflects on her first major event playing in the France national team jersey.

“The whole of New Caledonia was behind me — whether family, friends or people cheering me on even though I didn't know them. My family was often by my side despite the distance, especially my mum, who would get up early to watch the matches or send me a message of encouragement before each one.”

While 2025 ended on a high note for Wajoka, 2026 did not start too badly, either. In the first week, she celebrated her 25th birthday, then Metz announced the extension of her contract with another year, until 2027.

And the next highlight is coming up this weekend, as Metz host record and defending champions Györi Audi ETO KC in the Match of the Week on Saturday (10 January at 16:00 CET, live on EHFTV), when the EHF Champions League resumes after its eight-week winter break.

“We want to beat Györ, that has always been the goal,” says Wajoka, who scored three times when Metz lost 31:27 in the reverse fixture in Hungary last November — the only match in the group phase Metz did not win.

“We put on a good show. We gave it our all until the 60th minute,” Wajoka recalls. “Now it is up to us to do the same on Saturday, with better shooting efficiency above all, because that is what we lacked in the first match.”

Even though she calls her start at Metz “a bit complicated”, Wajoka has quickly evolved into a key player for head coach Emmanuel Mayonnade’s team.

In her first-ever EHF Champions League match, away at Team Esbjerg in early September, she netted five times, including the last-minute winning goal that earned Metz a 30:29 triumph in Denmark.

It set the tone for a strong opening half to Wajoka’s top-flight season, with 12 goals in her first three matches and 26 in total after the eight rounds so far.

“Her progress since the beginning of her time in Metz has been undeniable,” Mayonnade says on the official Metz website.

“Match after match, she has shown that she has all the necessary qualities to continue growing and establishing herself at the highest level, and in my opinion, there are very few limits to what she can still achieve and show in the future.”

Wajoka has come a long way.

Born in Nouméa, the 86,000-inhabitant capital of New Caledonia, she picked up handball in her teenage years at school. Wajoka’s talent and skills were soon noticed by Olivia Vaitanaki, a former professional player who runs a regional training centre in New Caledonia.

In 2016, Wajoka moved to France and joined the youth department of Fleury Loiret Handball — one of Vaitanaki’s former clubs — and soon became part of France’s youth and junior national teams.

With Fleury, she played in the EHF European League 2020/21 group phase. Her rise in international handball was temporarily halted when she tore ligaments in her right knee early in the 2021/22 season.

Wajoka recovered and returned, but then Fleury went bankrupt in late 2022, forcing the left wing to kickstart her career at another club. She did so, impressively, at Besançon, where she scored 194 goals in the French league over the past two seasons.

She got her first call-up from France head coach Sébastian Gardillou for a training camp in October 2024, then made her first minutes on court in a friendly against Germany in March 2025.

In the final months of the year, Wajoka found herself in the spotlight of the international handball world over and over again, both with Metz and the national team.

Not that she tends to pay much attention to it.

“When I left the World Championship, I continued — and continue — to be myself,” says Wajoka, who lists Daniel Narcisse (“for his attacking duels”), Siraba Dembélé (“for her finishing and wing shots”) and Chloé Valentini (“for her anticipation on counterattacks”) as her idols in the sport.

“For me, this is just the beginning. My career is long and I don't know what tomorrow will bring,” she adds. “This championship was a wonderful experience. I know what I am capable of and I am very happy to have been able to do my bit to help the team win this medal.”

With the French domestic league in full flow again and the EHF Champions League returning to action this weekend, Wajoka’s focus is fully on her club again.

“I'm back in Metz, staying true to myself and continuing to work hard to improve and finish this great season with the team.”

How great could this season really become for Metz — aiming for their fifth appearance at the Raiffeisen Bank EHF FINAL4, after failing to reach the final the first four times?

“For me, this year, we can go all the way to the EHF FINAL4 with this team,” Wajoka says. “We have all the weapons and resources we need to win the cup. It is up to us to keep working towards that goal.”

Photos © Kevin Clement; kolektiff