GWD Minden narrowly missed rescue on the last matchday of the Handball Bundesliga and was relegated.
After a dramatic final phase, the East Westphalia team lost 25:26 (14:18) to co-relegated SC DHfK Leipzig on the last match day and ended the season in 17th place in the table. For the two-time German champions from Minden, it is the sixth relegation in the club’s history.
Minden had one on the penultimate matchday surprising win against THW Kiel a final to stay in the league, but ultimately missed the decisive point win despite help from Magdeburg in the parallel game in Wetzlar.
Minden starts weakly
The starting position was clear: Minden had to get one point more than HSG Wetzlar, which had the same number of points but was better in terms of goal difference, in the parallel game against champions SC Magdeburg.
However, the game started very unfavorably for the East Westphalians. After just under three minutes, Leipzig was 3-0 ahead and had one more player on the field. But Minden quickly recovered from this disastrous start and equalized a little later with a seven-meter penalty from Florian Kranzmann to make it 3-3 (6th).
Leipzig moves away to five goals
After a few even minutes, Leipzig was able to gain a two-goal lead again (10:8/15th), whereupon Aaron Ziercke took his first timeout. After two time penalties from Leipzig, Minden had the best chance of fighting back with a double majority, but in this phase they despaired of Leipzig’s goalkeeper Domenico Ebner.
Instead, Leipzig was able to increase the score to five goals for the first time (17:12/25th), because Minden made more and more mistakes, which led to Leipzig counterattacking at high speed. In addition, the ball repeatedly landed on the post or crossbar during the attack and not in the Leipzig goal. Ziercke then took his second time out. However, Minden was unable to reduce the deficit decisively until the break and went into the locker room with a 14:18 deficit.
Minden is struggling back
In the first few minutes after the break, Minden was at least more accurate, but they also had to concede a goal after every goal they scored. To make matters worse, Morten Hempel landed unhappily on Jensen’s shoulder and had to get out first. In addition, Kranzmann also showed nerves after previously having a 100 percent hit rate and missed a seven-meter shot. And yet Minden was able to reduce the score to two goals in this phase (21:19/39.).
GWD had the momentum on its side in this phase and managed to win the ball, but then failed again and again due to the strong Ebner in the Leipzig goal. But Minden didn’t let themselves be discouraged, continued to fight for every ball and managed to equalize 22:22 (45th) through Niclas Heidkamp. In addition, goalkeeper Malte Semisch, who was replaced by Tibor Ivansevic after a weak start, made some important saves.
The post prevents us from staying in the league
The game stagnated for more than five minutes and the score was 23:22 for Leipzig. After a seven-meter save from Semisch, Mats Korte scored to make it 23:23, also from a seven-meter shot (52′). Minden found it extremely difficult to produce good finishes during this phase. A good three minutes before the end, Leipzig was leading again with 25:23 (57th). It was thanks to the strong Semisch that the game was not yet decided at this point.
With one minute left, Leipzig led 26:25 and took another timeout while in possession of the ball. At the end of the attack, Franz Semper was denied by Semisch and GWD gained possession of the ball. Ziercke immediately took a timeout to prepare his team for the final but potentially decisive attack of the season. But Semisch went down in favor of another field player.
Jakub Sterba had the last throw, but only hit the post. This sealed Minden’s relegation. In the end, one point would actually have been enough because Wetzlar lost the home game against Magdeburg 30:31.
The best goalscorer of the game was Mindens Kranzmann with seven goals.
Our sources:
- Game SC DHfK Leipzig against GWD Minden on June 7, 2026 on DYN
- HBL homepage
Broadcast: WDR.de“GWD Minden is relegated after a heart-stopping finale”, June 7, 20265:30 p.m
