The THW Kiel can continue to dream of the 13th Cup triumph, which MT Melsungen hope for the first title of the club’s history. In the final for the DHB Cup there will be a duel between the handball record winner and the previous year’s finalist on Sunday (3:35 p.m./ARD and Dyn).
In a dramatic semi-finals at the Final Four in Cologne, the Kielers prevailed against the Rhein-Neckar Löwen with 32:31 (28:28, 14:17) after extra time and thus rejected Mannheim’s hopes for the third coup after 2018 and 2023. Afterwards, Melsungen at the (15:14) against the second division club HBW Balingen-Weilstetten lived up to his favorite role.
Pure drama in the first semi -finals
Emil Madsen was the best thrower for the Kieler with eleven gates, in which national goalkeeper Andreas Wolff became the victory guarantor with two seven meters held in the final phase. Star director Juri Knorr was successful nine times for the lions. “What a fight. There are only such games in the cup,” said THW coach Filip Jicha in the ARD.
From the kick -off, a rapid game developed, in which no team was initially able to get advantages. In the middle of the first half, the lions worked out for the first time in the 10: 7, because the THW lacked the necessary punch in the absence of the injured Nikola Bilek and Harald Reinkind.
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Injury badge for the lions
The Mannheimers had in the person of Ivan Martinovic. The Croatian was largely responsible for the fact that the lions were in front with five goals after almost 25 minutes at 15:10. But then the shock: In his fifth goal, Martinovic suffered a knee injury a little later and limped from the arena with tears in his eyes. The vice world champion did not go any further.
The THW, which made the connection again with two fast goals, caught the better start after the change. The Kielers could not be discouraged by a new four-goal deficit (17:21). In the middle of the second half, the game was completely open again at 22:22. Even after 60 minutes there was no winner. So it went into the extension. There the lions could not use their last possession, so that the THW cheered the final in the end.
Melsungen only after the break confidently
It was not quite as tight in the second semi -finals, even if Melsungen was a long time and in the first half with three goals. It was only after the change that the Bundesliga table was given more access and in the middle of the second half, the 24:18 decided to make six goals. The best thrower at the winner was playmaker Erik Balenciaga with six goals.