Handball: Last chance for THW Kiel in a failed season

Sthrow from the meter, that too! As if the nerves of the THW Kiel handball players hadn’t suffered enough in the past few weeks, the players also had to go into a shootout on Tuesday evening just before half past ten. This rarely happens in handball; games are more often decided in extra time. But now: maximum pressure at the seven-meter mark.

Four Kielers competed, Lukas Zerbe, Magnus Landin, Bence Imre and Eric Johansson. Everyone transformed. The goalkeepers Andreas Wolff and Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas each parried a throw from the players of the Croatian club Nexe Nasice. With the last of their strength, the Kielers jumped through the hall. “It was a victory of willpower,” said national player Zerbe. Or: just went well again.

There were times when a club like Nexe Nasice would not have been a serious opponent. European middle class, at best. But at the moment the THW has to be happy to win such games, even if it is in the penalty throw after a 30:33 in the first leg and 30:27 in the second leg. In the small European Cup, the European League, Kiel is now in the Final Four tournament, which takes place on 30/31. May be held in Hamburg. The opponents there will be their Bundesliga colleagues from Flensburg and Melsungen, with Montpellier HB from France completing the field. It is even possible for Kiel to win the title; different than in the Bundesliga.

The THW has had devastating weeks there. Kiel was able to win the derby against SG Flensburg-Handewitt in mid-March, after which there was a defeat against Melsungen and two difficult-to-explain draws in their own stadium against the bottom of the table SC DHfK Leipzig and ThSV Eisenach. And, a few days ago, a crushing 25:33 defeat at HSG Wetzlar.

“We delivered today, against all odds,” says Swede Eric Johansson

30 games this season, six defeats, eight draws – these are values ​​that are difficult to accept in Kiel. THW is fifth in the table, 14 points behind first SC Magdeburg and seven behind second Flensburg. The direct qualification via the league for the Champions League, which would be so important for Kiel, is now a thing of the past. Rarely has Stefan Kretzschmar, the former sports director of Füchse Berlin, been as wrong with a prediction as he was with the one that Kiel would “not lose another game” in the final spurt of the season and would therefore finish second in the table.

The eight-goal defeat at relegation candidate Wetzlar weighed the most heavily because it ruthlessly exposed Kiel’s deficits. On the one hand, there was the injury problem that was troubling the club. Coach Filip Jicha had to do without his entire backcourt: Emil Madsen, Elias Ellefsen á Skipagötu, Eric Johansson, Nikola Bilyk – all injured. Of course, a team like Kiel still has enough top talent in the squad, from goalkeeper Andreas Wolff to Croatian handball legend Domagoj Duvnjak to Lukas Zerbe, Rune Dahmke, Hendrik Pekeler, Harald Reinkind, Veron Narcinovic and Bence Imre. All big names, all national players.

In the end, however, it was 18-year-old Rasmus Ankermann and 19-year-old Johan Rohwer who fought together in the backcourt against the defeat in Wetzlar. Large parts of the team seemed very unsettled, and at one point the opponent even went on an 8-0 run: eight goals for Wetzlar, none for Kiel. Coach Jicha described the situation as one of the “most difficult phases I have experienced in the club”. With a two-year break, he has been with the club since 2007, first as a player and then as a coach. Managing director Viktor Szilagyi, who alongside Jicha has the highest level of responsibility, put it in a similar way – and also receives criticism.

There is currently no sign of any quick personnel consequences. Kiel would rather take advantage of the opportunity and save the damned season via the European League. There are two games at the Final Four, semifinals and finals. If both are won, the disgrace of another titleless season will be averted. In addition, the winner of the European League could be rewarded by the European Handball Federation (EHF) through the back door with a starting place for the coming season in the (clearly more lucrative) Champions League. This is not certain and depends on other factors, such as the performance of the German clubs in the Champions League. But for Kiel it would be the best possible scenario.

Until then, the hospital has to clear out. At least Eric Johansson (knee injury) returned against Nexe, which immediately proved valuable. The Swede not only scored ten goals from the backcourt, he also took the last shot in the seven-meter throw. Once faked, then sunk into the bottom right corner. “We delivered today, against all odds,” Johansson said later. It was time again.