URSU Sonia

General
PROFESSIONAL 5-ON-5 CAREER
She decided to forgo offers to play collegiate basketball in the United States of America to instead turn professional. After playing 5-on-5 basketball at elite junior level she joined the Romanian senior team in 2012 before moving to Republic of Korea to play for WKBL side Chuncheon Woori Bank Hansae for the 2012/13 season. "I went to learn a different style of basketball, because in Korea the focus is more on team play. In Romania it's more about players' individual skills. I almost went to play for Pittsburgh University, but I chose Korea instead. I wanted to reconnect with my Korean family, from which I was apart for almost 13 years." She returned to Romania to play for BC Olimpia Brasov for one season [2014/15] before having spells in the Czech Republic and Poland. She returned to the Republic of Korea with her former side Asan Woori Bank Wibee [formerly Chuncheon Woori Bank Hansae] from 2019 2021. (gherdansports.basketball, 01 Jan 2021; fibaeurope.com, 26 Mar 2015, 07 Aug 2011; english.chosun.com, 12 Jan 2013)

ROMANIA TO REPUBLIC OF KOREA AND BACK
Born in Suceava, Romania, to a Korean father and Romanian mother, she moved to Republic of Korea as a child before returning to Romania at around age seven. Growing up in Romania she had ambitions to become a model, as she was interested in fashion, before she decided on a career in basketball after she learned to play the sport when she moved to Bucharest as a teenager. "The Asian look is an inheritance from my father, who is from South Korea, I came back to Romania when I started school in Suceava. In fourth grade I moved to Bucharest, where my mother [Gabriela] opened a Korean restaurant." (english.chosun.com, 12 Jan 2013; fibaeurope.com, 07 Aug 2011)