In a match surrounded by emotions, the handball players of Drenth Groep Hurry-Up on Saturday evening in Zwartemeer were 38-31 too strong for Bevo.
The Zwartemeerders thus closed the competition in HandbalNL-League with a victory. That made no difference to reaching the final matches for the Dutch title. Before that, Hurry-Up, which finished fourth, was already eliminated. That is why the highlight of the evening actually took place after the end of the game when coach Joop Fiege, assistant Martin de Hoop, and the players René Jaspers, Tiago Azenha Filipe, David Ferreira and Nicolai Schoemaker said goodbye.
Saying goodbye to Jaspers was especially emotional. In addition to a thunderous applause from the supporters, the crowd favorite received a bunch of flowers and a match photo of himself. The born Brabander was applauded by many friends and acquaintances. His girlfriend had taken care of that as a surprise. Also present was father Dick Jaspers, the multiple world champion three cushion. Over the years, son René has become half a Drent and continues to live in Emmen.
René Jaspers will play just across the border at TuS Haren
Jaspers continues his handball career just across the border at the German TuS Haren, where former Hurry-Up player Tim Remer is active. Jaspers was not dry when he said goodbye in sports hall De Eendracht.
With the Portuguese Tiago Azenha Filipe, another player who played for the Zwartemeerders for a long time left. After five seasons he stops playing handball altogether. Azenha will continue to live in Southeast Drenthe and will concentrate on his social career. His busy job cannot be combined with handball,
The departing coach Joop Fiege did not stick around for long. The Amsterdammer, who lives in Emmen, is not a fan of the farewell ritual. Fiege had a good last season with the Zwartemeerders, where the icing on the cake was just missed with a loss in the cup final against Volendam. He is succeeded by Sven Hemmes, who played for Hurry-Up as a goalkeeper in the past.
Goalkeeper David Ferreira played strong at the farewell
David Ferreira, the Portuguese goalkeeper of Hurry-Up, continues his sporting career in Germany after two seasons in Zwartemeer. Coach Fiege allowed him to play almost the entire game against Bevo and made a large number of saves.
The Danish Nicolai Schoemaker played one season with Hurry-Up and will return to his homeland. He grew into an important mainstay in coverage last season. He may have wanted to stay for another season, but personal circumstances are a reason for his departure. His wife has received an offer for an excellent job in Denmark and is going to work there. Schoemaker already has a new club there, but does not want to name it yet. ,,The club has yet to announce that”, he said.
Hurry-Up started off a bit slack, but put things in order
Hurry-Up started the duel against Bevo a bit weak and soon faced a backlog. It took a while for the Drents to put things in order against the team from Panningen in Limburg, but then they had the game under control. The 38-31 victory was undeniable.