On the last day of the main round of the Handball Champions League, THW Kiel lost the long-distance duel for third place in Group B. At the Norwegian series champion Elverum Handball, the “Zebras” only managed a 26:26 (12:11) on Wednesday evening.
However, due to a 28:28 draw by HBC Nantes at the same time at SC Pick Szeged, the Schleswig-Holsteiners were only left with fourth place in the group due to the direct comparison with the French. With that, the THW would meet the fifth of season A – probably Dinamo Bucharest.
Bumpy start of the THW in the game
The game started cautiously, both teams started nervously and made many mistakes in the first ten minutes. THW remained without a goal for four minutes in a row, after nine minutes the score was still 2:2. Then Niclas Ekberg, who surprisingly recovered from an ankle injury, gave Kiel the first lead of the evening (10th) with a seven-meter penalty to make it 3:2.
Due to the mixed degrees of the North Germans in a row, however, it remained a tight game in the first round. Eric Johansson in particular played with over-motivation against his ex-club and had a bad day. The hosts, coached by Börge Lund, who wore the jersey for the “Zebras” from 2007 to 2010, managed to go into the break 11:12. This was mainly due to the strong performance of Elverum’s keeper Emil Imsgard. The 24-year-old Norway international goalkeeper made ten saves in the first 30 minutes and saved three penalties.
Kiel final offensive without effect
Kiel also slept through the start of the second round, only scoring three goals in the first ten minutes. Fifteen minutes before the end with a one-goal deficit, Filip Jicha sent his senior team onto the floor to avert the impending defeat. Sander Sagosen, who will move back to his native Norway for the up-and-coming Kolstad IL in the summer, equalized in the 50th minute to make it 22:22 and in return Niklas Landin parried the Norwegian attack.
But instead of using the momentum and pulling away, Kiel kept the underdog in the game. In a tense finale, Sagosen had a chance to win in the dying seconds, but the man of the match, Elverum keeper Imsgard, was able to save and avoid defeat.
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NDR 2 Sports | 03/01/2023 | 11:03 p.m
