HBL table leaders Füchse Berlin missed out on a direct quarter-final place in the European League.
Coach Jaron Siewert’s team lost to Sporting Lisbon 28:32 (17:17) – like a week ago in their home stadium (31:32). Sporting is two points ahead of the Berliners in the main round group IV before the last match day, and the gap can no longer be made up due to the lost direct comparison.
This means that last year’s winner has to take the detour via the play-offs, in which the other quarter-finalists are determined. Only the first in each of the four groups of four advances directly to the round of the last eight. Mathias Gidsel was the Foxes’ best thrower in Portugal with six goals.
SG Flensburg-Handewitt, on the other hand, is almost through, having completed their mandatory task in Group III with a 42:30 (20:16) win against the Serbian representative Vojvodina Novi Sad and is at the top with eight points. The Norwegian August Pedersen with nine and national team captain Johannes Golla with eight goals were the top scorers.
The Rhein-Neckar Löwen won the German duel in Group I at TSV Hannover-Burgdorf with 32:24 (15:13). The team around national player Juri Knorr moved past the hosts into second place in the table, while HBC Nantes from France remains the leader.
Niklas Kirkelökke was the Lions’ best thrower with nine goals, while national goalkeeper David Späth was hard to overcome with 23 saves. As in the first leg win a week ago (27:26), 19-year-old David More also impressed with five goals.