The German champions SC Magdeburg and the cup winners THW Kiel have won catch-up games in the handball Bundesliga and thus secured their places in the top group.
Club world champion Magdeburg prevailed on Wednesday evening at TVB Stuttgart with 32:28 (15:12), the best thrower of the defending champion was Magnus Saugstrup with nine goals.
Kiel followed suit and reduced the gap to leader Füchse Berlin with his victory. Kiel won 34:27 (16:16) at HC Erlangen, Nikola Bilyk scored the most for the new table second with nine goals. National player Hendrik Pekeler made his comeback at Kiel after a six-month injury break.
With 17:3 points, the SCM is in fourth place, but still with two games fewer than the three higher-ranked teams Berlin, Kiel and Rhein Neckar-Löwen.