For the first time in five years, the Final Four for the DHB Cup will take place without THW Kiel. After the narrow defeat in the handball thriller against SC Magdeburg, the “Zebras” have already missed their first goal of the season.
A cup game in Hamburg became a final for Schleswig-Holstein. Actually quite normal, but the final tournament was played on the Elbe for years. But this year, for the first time, Cologne is the venue for the Final Four (April 15/16) – and the quarter-final duel with SC Magdeburg took place in Hamburg because there were scheduling difficulties and a motorsport event was taking place in the Kiel Arena program stood.
“It hurts to be out of the cup,” said world handball player Niklas Landin after the lost overtime thriller against SC Magdeburg (34:35) with a thoughtful expression. Missing out on the final round of the cup creates a bad mood at THW, and the first goal of the season is gone for the star ensemble from the north.
When the semi-final pairings are drawn on Wednesday, the record champion, who is otherwise used to success, is only a spectator. From the north, only the SG Flensburg-Handewitt is still represented.
THW has to deliver in the Bundesliga and Champions League
That’s “bitter,” said THW trainer Filip Jicha after the title defender’s exit, and managing director Viktor Szilagyi added: “We’re very disappointed because it was one of our big goals to go to Cologne.”
The players are now all the more challenged in the league and in the Champions League. “That’s our focus. It’s going on,” said Landin, who, after winning the world championship again with Denmark, had actually hoped for perfection with three titles at the end of the season.
Do the people from Kiel even go away empty-handed when it comes to titles?
The THW may also get nothing at all. In Group B of the “premier class”, Kiel is currently only fourth. That’s enough to reach the quarter-final play-offs. Barcelona and Kielce (opponents on Thursday), but also in the parallel group Paris, Veszprem and Magdeburg are tough competitors, some of whom have shown significantly better performances than Schleswig-Holstein.
And in the Bundesliga, the German record champions are currently only in second place. With the Rhein-Neckar Löwen and champion Magdeburg, who also played two games less, close on their heels.
Is readiness and energy sufficient at THW?
A week after the World Cup final, the Kiel team lacked energy and lightness in the cup against Magdeburg. Especially in the first half, the SCM dominated the game despite the lack of three top performers and seemed much more lively. “We needed time after the long break before we were ready and energetic,” said Jicha self-critically.
“We now have to wipe our mouths, train, keep working and give everything in the next five months.”
— THW trainer Filip Jicha
Willingness will now be important in the championship race of the league. Because with five teams at the top of the table, only five points apart, such seemingly small things could ultimately make the difference. That’s why Jicha demanded: “We now have to wipe our mouths, train, keep working and give everything in the next five months.”
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sports club | 05.02.2023 | 10:50 p.m
