AUDIO: Draw between Flensburg-Handewitt and Hannover-Burgdorf (1 min)
EHF European League
As of: April 29, 2026 11:45 p.m
Defending champion SG Flensburg-Handewitt is threatened with early exit from the Handball European League. The Schleswig-Holsteiners couldn’t get past 39:39 (20:19) in their own arena on Wednesday evening. The “Recken” now have a good chance of qualifying for the Final Four in Hamburg at the end of May.
The best throwers for Flensburg were Simon Pytlick and Emil Jakobsen with eight goals each. Hanover’s August Pedersen contributed significantly to the guests’ success with an outstanding performance and eleven hits from eleven throws. The second leg in Hanover will take place next Tuesday (6.45 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter).
THW Kiel had already played its quarter-final first leg one day before the northern duel in Flensburg. The “Zebras” had to admit defeat to the Croatian club RK Nexe Nasice with 30:33.
Before the break a game of intermediate spurts
Niclas Kirkelökke twice, Johannes Golla once – and the SG had already made a perfect start with a 3-0 win (4th). However, the “warriors” responded strongly. Above all, the Norwegian left winger Pedersen ensured that the guests quickly caught up again with his accuracy. And that’s not all: Cyclist Justus Fischer took Lower Saxony’s first lead with 11:10 (15th). It was a game of spurts in the first half. Flensburg then pulled away again and TSV made contact again. At the break the SG led with 20:19.
TSV professional Pedersen has a 100% quota
Hannover-Burgdorf could not be shaken off at the beginning of the second half, which was mainly due to the saves made by national goalkeeper Joel Birlehm. The opportunities at the front were also used well. Jonathan Edvardsson equalized with a counterattack to make it 25:25 (40th). And after TSV playmaker Leif Tissier gave the guests a 28:27 lead without much resistance, SG coach Ales Pajovic pressed the buzzer – time out!
But the guests continued to make life difficult for the people of Schleswig-Holstein afterwards. After some nice preparatory work, the excellent Pedersen SG goalkeeper Benjamin Buric duped with a remarkable spin. A little later he also converted another seven meter. At the same time, the Norwegian maintained his impeccable personal record.
Shortly before the end, Kirkelökke saw the red card after a tough start against Hannover’s Renars Uscins (57th). The national player also had victory for TSV in his hands with the last action of the game. His direct free throw clearly missed the Flensburg goal. In the end, the draw was actually a happy one for Flensburg. The Lower Saxony team now has a good chance of qualifying for the Final Four in Hamburg.
