THW Kiel wins thanks to birthday boy Wolff and gets a ticket to the quarterfinals

AUDIO: THW Kiel wins in the European League against Bidasoa Irun (1 min)

by Matthias Heidrich

After the home win against weak Spaniards, the “Zebras” benefited from the defeat of SG Flensburg-Handewitt in Montpellier and can no longer be pushed out of the top position by their arch rivals in Group 1.

Next Tuesday (8:45 p.m., in the live ticker on NDR.de) the 115th state derby and final main round game between THW and Flensburg will take place in Kiel. The Kiel team won the first leg.

The play-offs with the SG will be played on March 31st and April 7th, the quarter-finals with the THW on April 28th and May 5th. The Final Four of the four best teams will take place on May 30th and 31st in Hamburg.

Results, table standings and match days at a glance.

Overall, things were a bit slow for the “Zebras” against Bidasoa Irun. “We didn’t cover ourselves with glory today and are still happy about the two points,” said Rasmus Ankermann in an NDR interview. There isn’t much time to breathe. “The focus is now fully on Stuttgart. We play the Bundesliga in less than 48 hours and have to do something well there,” said Ankermann.

Wolff makes the Spaniards despair

After the setback in the league against Gummersbach, the Kiel team wanted to make amends. To put it bluntly, only one person managed to do that in the first half: Andreas Wolff. Twelve saves and 60 percent of balls saved were evidence of a strong performance by the national goalkeeper, who celebrated his 35th birthday in the THW Hall. In view of this, the fact that his offensively erratic team only managed an 11:8 lead at the break was negligent.

Bidasoa Irun can’t get his foot on the ground

With a throw rate of under 60 percent, things only got slightly better for the Kiel team in the second round. However, the people of Schleswig-Holstein were able to “rely” on the Spanish guests. Bidasoa Irun, who really annoyed the Kiel team in the first comparison, couldn’t get a foot on the ground in the THW hall. A Wolff in top form (at the end with 17 saves) and a compact cover were enough for THW to secure a win.

The best Kiel throwers were the five-time goalscorers Bence Imre and Rasmus Ankermann.

Handball European League

The defending champions lost their third main round game in the European League 32:35 and missed direct quarter-final qualification.

European League

The “Recken” won against the Kadetten Schaffhausen on Tuesday evening and, thanks to Nasice’s help, are already in the quarter-finals of the European League.