Handball Bundesliga - THW Kiel starts without nine players in the season
Without nine Olympic athletes, THW Kiel started the preparation for the new season in the Handball Bundesliga. "We begin on August 16th by overwriting the software of the national teams", said trainer Filip Jicha during a press conference. Only eight players were present for the first session.
In Paris, Germans Andreas Wolff and Rune Dahmke (reserve), Norwegians Harald Reinkind and Petter Overby, Croat Domagoj Duvnjak, Swede Karl Wallinius, French Samir Bellahcene (reserve), Dane Magnus Landin, and Hungarian Bence Imre are set to begin.
Players must be integrated after the Olympics
Jicha was glad that at least Danish Emil Madsen (from GOG Gudme in Denmark) and Lukas Zerbe (from TBV Lemgo Lippe) were present in the initial phase. Madsen, a 23-year-old Dane, is sad he didn't make it onto the team of the World Champions. For him, the Olympics remain a dream.
Third-league and youth players are added to the squad
Jicha fills out his squad until the return of the Paris players. First, players from the third-league team TSV Altenholz join, followed by the team's own youth. The squad is complete again by August 16th, in time for the farewell match of long-time THW players Niclas Ekberg and Steffen Weinhold. Swedish Eric Johansson, who gave up on the Olympics due to a knee operation, is also expected to join then.
Jicha hasn't specified a concrete season goal yet. However, it's clear that the fourth place from the previous season is not a permanent situation. The first league match is played by the THW on September 5th (8:30 PM/Dyn) against Rhein-Neckar Loewen.
- Despite the absence of nine Olympic athletes, THW Kiel, a renowned Handball team from Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, commenced their preparation for the new Handball Bundesliga season.
- Filip Jicha, the trainer of THW Kiel, announced that the team would begin on August 16th by updating the software of the national teams during a press conference.
- In Paris, several key players, including Germans Andreas Wolff and Rune Dahmke (reserve), Norwegians Harald Reinkind and Petter Overby, Croat Domagoj Duvnjak, Swede Karl Wallinius, French Samir Bellahcene (reserve), Dane Magnus Landin, and Hungarian Bence Imre, are preparing for their return to the Handball Bundesliga after the Olympics.
- Domagoj Duvnjak, a Croatian player from THW Kiel, was one of those missing in the initial phase of the new season's preparation.
- Filip Jicha is planning to integrate these players back into the team after their Olympic commitments by adding third-league and youth players to the squad, filling out the team until their return.
- Paris-bound Olympians like Eric Johansson, who had to give up on the Olympics due to a knee operation, are also expected to join the team by August 16th, just in time for THW Kiel's farewell match for long-time players Niclas Ekberg and Steffen Weinhold.
