Henri Pabst got his big chance with the Bundesliga handball team of THW Kiel due to the injuries of the established players. Born in Hamburg, he even made an impression in the Champions League.
Half a year ago, Pabst would probably never have dreamed that he would step onto the “premium class” stage so quickly. At the end of June, the 18-year-old handball talent joined the THW’s professional squad as a junior player – and is now diligently collecting game minutes as a “filler”.
“It was overwhelming to get into the dressing room and see all the stars. I was in awe.”
— Handball talent Henri Pabst from THW Kiel
Since Sven Ehrig tore his cruciate ligament at the end of September, a new right winger was needed for the German record champions: Junior international Pabst made his first professional appearances. “Of course I knew that I could get my chance and also have to take responsibility,” says the 18-year-old, who turns out to be an all-purpose weapon.
Goal debut in the Champions League
Because since Steffen Weinhold suffered a serious knee injury at the end of November, Pabst has been used to relieve Harald Reinkind in the right backcourt. His personal highlight came on December 15, when he scored his first two goals in the premier class in a Champions League away game at Aalborg Handbold. “Wow, just wow,” said Pabst afterwards, completely enthusiastic.
Talent discovered in the THW handball camp
After Rune Dahmke and Sven Ehrig, Pabst could become the next homegrown player to establish himself with the record champions. He originally comes from the Hamburg area and learned to play handball at TSV Ellerbek. In 2018, at the age of 14, he moved to Kiel. “I took part in a handball camp organized by THW Kiel back then,” he looks back.
There Klaus-Dieter Petersen, youth coordinator of the German record champions, approached him and invited him to training. “It went well, so I took part in training regularly,” reports Pabst. He commuted for the first two years before moving to Kiel. He was promoted to the professional squad last summer.
“Full of awe” at the first professional training session
THW Managing Director Viktor Szilagyi emphasizes again and again that the association’s way is to carefully introduce talented young people from the THW youth field to professional handball and to offer them the best development opportunities. At the beginning of the 2021/2022 season, Pabst had already completed his first training session with the pros. “It was overwhelming to come into the dressing room and see all the stars. I was in awe,” he recalls. “But I was well received. The players greeted me and talked to me.”
A basketball icon is his role model
However, his great role model is not a handball star, but the basketball icon Kobe Bryant. “He was a brilliant player and had a super mentality and willingness to work,” he says of the former NBA player, who died in a helicopter crash in January 2020. What impressed him about Bryant’s style of play was “that he found the right solution even in the most stressful moments”. Henri Pabst is now trying to do something similar at THW Kiel.
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Sports current | 12/27/2022 | 09:17 am
