For the first time since the beginning of October, THW Kiel has returned to the Bundesliga handball league, where it believes it belongs: The “Zebras” say hello from the top of the table after a season that has by no means been carefree so far.
The people of Kiel presented an unusual picture in their own hall on Sunday, as they had run out against MT Melsungen in blue, green and yellow special jerseys, with which they advertised the THW campaign “För de Küste” to protect the seas and the coast . In terms of sport, the game was a decal of the previous season. After a strong and dominant phase, a slump followed – only seconds before the end Nikola Bilyk decided the game with his goal to 24:22.
Clear signal to the competition
“I never trembled for victory,” said THW captain Domagoj Duvnjak, who was still suffering from the flu of the past few days. Sure, the THW almost gave up a nine-goal lead: “But we won, and tomorrow no one will ask how this victory came about.”
The THW sent a clear signal to the competition before Christmas – and great self-confidence before the upcoming away games. On Thursday we go to Aalborg in the Champions League (8.45 p.m.) and three days later on Sunday (2 p.m.) the prestigious state derby at SG Flensburg-Handewitt.
THW coach Jicha: “Proud of my team”
“I’m very proud of my team that they managed to get first place in the table at this stage of the season. They achieved that with hard work,” said THW coach Filip Jicha happily and spoke only of a “nice snapshot “.
“Now we’re at the top and of course we want to stay at the top.”
— THW handball player Nikola Bilyk
But the Czech can also read the table, in which his THW is now one point ahead of Füchsen Berlin and defending champion SC Magdeburg with four minus points. The Rhein-Neckar Löwen (seven minus points) and especially the SG Flensburg-Handewitt should find it difficult to get involved in the title race, in which Kiel now holds all the trumps. With the exception of Mannheim, all competitors have to compete in the “Zebras” in the second half of the season.
With seven wins in a row at the top of the table
Almost exactly a month ago, the THW, used to success, was on the ground, helpless after the 32:33 defeat in the home game against Lemgo. “Those are two points that you can never get back. Now we’re chasing again,” said managing director Viktor Szilagyi. At that time, the top performers Sander Sagosen and Hendrik Pekeler were still missing.
But the record champions survived these personnel shortages as well as the absences of Steffen Weinhold (torn cruciate ligament), Eric Johansson (broken metacarpus) and Sven Ehrig (torn cruciate ligament). There have been seven victories in a row – including the 34:33 at champions Magdeburg – since the Lemgo game. And so the Kiel competitors have to fear what has mostly been the case in recent years: they are chasing THW.
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NDR 2 Sports | 12/12/2022 | 11:03 p.m
