Just over a week ago, THW Kiel was on the rocks after four defeats in a row at national level. Now the clear 34:23 in the Bundesliga against Hamburg was followed by the victory in the Champions League against Kielce with a statement: The German handball record champions are back on track.
With the 35:31 win against the top Polish club Kielce, the Kiel team not only maintained their clean slate in preliminary group A (four wins in four games), but also put a top European club in its place. Against the Poles, who recently reached the premier class final twice in a row, they only achieved their fourth win in the 13th duel – Kielce is one of the few clubs that have a positive record against the THW.
“We knew it was going to be super difficult, but we stayed cool, even when things weren’t going well,” said Niklas Ekberg and, looking at the final result on Wednesday evening, added: “The ad shows a lot of what was in ours Team is stuck.”
Ellefsen à Skipatögu once again outstanding
The audience in the Kiel Arena also saw it that way, especially celebrating Elias Ellefsen á Skipagötu after the final whistle. The newcomer from the Faroe Islands probably played his best game in the THW jersey: not only because he was Kiel’s most accurate thrower alongside Eric Johansson with seven goals, but also, as in the Bundesliga game against HSVH, he shone as an outstanding booster.
The 21-year-old was really hot, especially shortly after the break. With two goals within a minute, he turned the 15:16 deficit into a 17:16 lead. The “Zebras” no longer gave up on them – on the contrary: they even expanded them, which Ellefsen á Skipagötu played a major role in with three more goals and numerous perfect passes. No wonder he was named “Man of the Match” by the European Handball Federation (EHF) after the game.
Jicha’s position strengthened
THW coach Filip Jicha was extremely satisfied with his team’s strong performance: “We brought a lot of energy onto the field and really fought.” The Czech almost seemed a little elated: he was “very proud” and “happy”. He could leave the arena with a “good feeling”.
With their calm and confident performance, the Kiel stars also strengthened the position of their coach after Jicha had recently been viewed critically due to his changeable performances. THW managing director Viktor Szilagyi hadn’t mentioned anything about Jicha before the Kielce game. “I’m sure that Filip will take the right path to get out of the situation,” said Szilagyi in Handball Week: “Every season has its ups and downs. But Filip and the team have 100 percent of our trust.”
Ekberg: “It was never all bad”
So it hardly mattered that goalkeeper Samir Ballahcene was unable to shine on the international stage this time after his gala performance against HSV. Tomas Mrkva came into the game after 22 minutes – for Jicha the “key moment” for the victory: “The turnaround against this strong team from Kielce, for whom we have a lot of respect, was possible because Tomas Mrkva made a few saves to help us on the counterattack game,” explained the THW coach.
Now it’s time to continue the positive trend. “It was never all bad,” said right winger Ekberg, referring to the bumpy early phase of the season. “We often showed good handball, but didn’t really finish it. But we worked on it and now we’re getting a certain amount of looseness – and then we win.”
Sander Sagosen’s Kolstad should feel this looseness on Saturday (4 p.m.) in the SC DHfK Leipzig Bundesliga and next Thursday (6:45 p.m.) in the Champions League.
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NDR 2 Sport | Oct 11, 2023 | 11:03 p.m
