The title is still out of sight for Kiel's handball team
Slowly but surely, the championship trophy is slipping out of sight for the THW Kiel handball team. Although the German record champions have only completed just under a third of the season, they are already nine points behind leaders Füchse Berlin after Thursday's 33:36 (17:20) defeat at TSV Hannover-Burgdorf. Second place, which entitles the team to participate in the Champions League and is currently occupied by SC Magdeburg, is also a full seven points away.
"The season is not going well for us so far," said THW captain Domagoj Duvnjak on the streaming service Dyn after the defeat in Hanover. After eleven of 34 games and their fifth defeat of the season, Kiel are only in seventh place with 12:10 points. The Foxes have 21:1 points, Magdeburg 19:3. Duvnjak continued: "We accept that, but we have to keep working on getting better."
In the final phase of Thursday's game, it was a former THW player of all people who put the nail in Kiel's coffin. Hanover's goalkeeper Dario Quenstedt made ten saves in just under 24 minutes of play and fended off almost every second ball. "We have to make a note of this date and this result. Because you don't win against THW Kiel every day," said the goalkeeper. In fact, it was only the third win for the club from Lower Saxony against Kiel.
THW coach Filip Jicha summed it up: "Some of my players paid their dues today." The Czech was particularly dissatisfied with the opening spell of the game, in which Kiel had almost fallen behind. "The way we started the game was not right. That takes its revenge against a top team like Hannover," said Jicha.
THW continue their campaign on Sunday (2:05 p.m./Dyn) with an away game at cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen. Domagoj Duvnjak knows: "It will be an incredibly tough game there."
Despite their strong history as Bundesliga champions, THW Kiel's men's handball team finds themselves struggling to keep up with the league leaders. With a 33:36 loss to TSV Hannover-Burgdorf, THW Kiel is now nine points behind Füchse Berlin and seven points away from participating in the Champions League-qualifying second place, currently held by SC Magdeburg.
Source: www.dpa.com
