Almost an hour after the final siren, and it was almost 30 minutes late, Kay Smits was sitting in the almost deserted stands in the Lanxess Arena, most of the 19,750 spectators had long since gone home – and were comforted. Smits’ parents were there, from South Holland it’s not far to Cologne by car, the aunt, the nephews, but it was little consolation for him. Sure, “it’s always good when the family is there, in good times and in bad”. But Smits, who was once again the top scorer for Magdeburg with ten goals, now had to survive a particularly dark hour: SC Magdeburg had just lost an incredibly intense cup final against Rhein-Neckar Löwen, 34:36 after extra time and a penalty shoot-out – and Smits missed the big chance to win.
Six seconds before the end of regulation time, the 26-year-old stepped up to the penalty spot; the Dutchman is responsible for the penalty throws in the team of the German champion. And now he was faced with this baby face: David Späth is almost two meters tall, but also just 20 years old, and he is only the third goalkeeper for the lions. A few minutes earlier, Smits had smashed a seven-metre throw into the crossbar, and that was when Späth scored for the first time that evening. And now the talent of Mannheim parried Smits’ second penalty throw against him, the lions saved themselves in overtime. And now this handball roller coaster ride picked up an insane pace.
The opponents had already delivered a breathtaking exchange of blows beforehand, the game beat Volten like a hare fleeing a puma. Strong goalkeeper performances, energetic one-on-one duels and remarkable goals on the assembly line. Top handball near completion. And that after the two semi-final games had offered the almost 20,000 spectators the best entertainment: First, the champions Magdeburg had made it into the final against the TBV Lemgo cup scare with a hard-fought 33:31 win. Then the Mannheimers fought a fast-paced fight with the favored SG Flensburg-Handewitt, which the lions won 38:31 thanks to the better defense. In this game, the Mannheimers had already ended the small crisis that had knocked them out of the championship race with four defeats in a row.
National player Juri Knorr finds his way out of the performance gap
And now this handball festival accumulated in a crazy final. Juri Knorr in particular found his way back to his gala form after the national team’s playmaker fell into a performance slump in recent weeks. Now, like at the World Cup in Poland, he skilfully pulled the strings in attack, was a goal threat, time and time again found his congenial colleague Jannik Kohlbacher on the circle, created space for the team-mates or initiated fine moves. In addition, the lions got into their dangerous pace game, which was largely due to the poisonous defensive work, and the goalkeepers. National keeper Joel Birlehm’s saves were turned into lightning-fast counterattacks, and the lions have a strong specialist in their ranks for that: ex-national captain Uwe Gensheimer. The left winger scored nine goals; like Smits from Magdeburg, he also missed the opportunity to win from the game, but celebrated in the end anyway.
Tragic hero: Kay Smits is Magdeburg’s top scorer and a reliable seven-meter thrower. On Sunday evening he missed a crucial penalty throw.
(Photo: Thomas Haesl/Eibner-Pressefoto/Imago)
In the two five-minute extensions, Löwen goalkeeper Späth drove Magdeburg to despair – and his team was ahead by 31:28. Shortly before the end of the extra time at 31:30 Gensheimer came free from the outside to throw, it would have been the decision for the Löwen, but in this phase the Danish SCM goalkeeper Mike Jensen, who came on for Birlehm, made sensational saves. Magdeburg came back – and set the next punchline: Gisli Kristjansson, probably the best one-on-one player in the league, could only be stopped illegally, there were seven meters. The season was up, Smits started – and scored. 31:31.
The sport’s Hitchcock decision followed: a seven-meter throw. Now it was Kristjansson of all people who failed when Birlehm returned to the Löwen-Tor. Albin Lagergren used his chance to win and scored to win the cup.
While the tension in the lion’s trainer Sebastian Hinze broke into tears of joy, Gensheimer slumped. Rarely had “such a burden been lifted from me,” he said. Juri Knorr spoke of a “game for the history books, you can’t plan that, it’s crazy”. The Magdeburgers showed themselves to be fair losers, but the disappointment was huge. Coach Bennet Wiegert couldn’t find the words: “All I can say to the boys is that I don’t know what to say to them.” Matthias Musche admitted that “a game like this will never be forgotten”. When asked whether the opponent had been underestimated, the left winger gave an incredulous laugh, the only one of the evening: “I don’t have to say anything to that, in this league you don’t underestimate an opponent, especially not this one.”
Magdeburg has the chance to return to the Cologne Arena in the Final Four of the Champions League
In addition to the lions, the handball Bundesliga can also feel like winners, and the premiere in the Cologne Arena can certainly be considered a success. The Final Four had been held in Hamburg since 1994, and now they want to set new standards in the larger hall: more shows, more spectators, more marketing.
The fact that Magdeburg still has a chance of winning the championship and the Final Four in the Champions League didn’t help Kay Smits at that moment in the empty stands: “It’s difficult to think about it now.” His misjudgment will haunt him in the next few days, “I can’t get that out of my head so quickly”. In the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Wisla Plock is waiting in early May. If successful, Magdeburg would return to the Lanxess Arena in June for the final tournament. And Smits would throw the seven meters again.
