The injury drama surrounding superstar Sander Sagosen put THW Kiel in a state of shock before the end of the season.
Both the players and those responsible for the German handball record champion suffered on Sunday with the Norwegian, who suffered a fracture in his left ankle and a syndesmosis ligament tear in the Bundesliga home game against HSV Hamburg and will be out for up to eight months. “Looking at this injury was sad, inhuman, bad,” complained THW captain Domagoj Duvnjak.
Loss of another key player
After defender Hendrik Pekeler, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon, the Kielers are missing another top performer far beyond the last two league games of the season and the final tournament in the Champions League in mid-June. “Of course it’s brutal that we lost two of our key players to injuries in such a short time,” said THW trainer Filip Jicha.
The second-placed team reacted to Pekeler’s long-term absence by signing veteran Bjarte Myrhol for a short time. The 40-year-old Norwegian celebrated a successful comeback at 29:22 against HSV. Sagosen’s injury hit THW even harder. “We cannot compensate for the loss of Sander Sagosen. Our attacking game is tailored to him, he has the most actions. When a player like that fails, it’s always tragic and a very, very sad thing,” Pekeler told pay TV broadcaster Sky .