Supercup Löwen handball players quarrel after Kiel’s victory
Kiel’s Domagoj Duvnjak (m) celebrates the Supercup victory with his teammates. photo
© David Indian song / dpa
THW Kiel wins the first handball title of the new season. In the Supercup duel against the cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen, the champions show nerves of steel. Especially lion player Knorr looks broken.
After their 13th triumph in the Handball Supercup, the title chasers of THW Kiel hugged each other and celebrated their special victory record.
Even without world stars Niklas Landin and Sander Sagosen, the German champions defeated the cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen 4-3 in a seven-meter throw in Düsseldorf and were the first team in the 30-year history of the competition to win the cup for the fourth time in a row . After 60 minutes it was 33:33 (16:16).
“Incredible game, lots of ups and downs,” said Kiel’s backcourt player Nikola Bilyk on the Dyn streaming service. “We may be the lucky winner today, but we still worked hard for it.” Juri Knorr, who missed the victory with a penalty throw shortly before the end of the 60 minutes, struggled with his missed throw. “Today luck was on the Kiel side and I didn’t have luck in my hands or I messed it up at the moment.”
Reinkind and Wiencek best throwers
In front of 9620 spectators, backcourt player Harald Reinkind and circle runner Patrick Wiencek were the best throwers for the Kiel team with eight goals each, who had to do without four injured supports. In addition to defender Hendrik Pekeler and backcourt player Steffen Weinhold, new signings Vincent Gérard and Eduardo Gurbindo were also absent.
The most successful lion shooters were pivot Jannik Kohlbacher with seven goals and right winger Patrick Groetzki (6). But the outstanding man was goalkeeper David Späth. The U21 world champion put on a world-class performance between the posts.
“We chased the game for a long time, defensively we just didn’t manage to create compactness in the inner block, to help us early enough,” said Löwen coach Sebastian Hinze. “I think we can do a little bit better in the second half.” In the end, his team had the victory in their hands, “and then we actually have to close it, that’s the way it is.” Hinze therefore spoke of a “lost trophy”.
High-class goalkeeper duel
Goalkeeper Tomas Mrkva played a significant role in the Kiel triumph. The 34-year-old, who forms the Kiel goalkeeper duo with Frenchman Gérard this season, made some brilliant saves and advanced to the match winner in a dramatic seven-meter throw with two saved balls. As usual, a lot went through director Juri Knorr for the lions, who, however, developed little goal danger from the game. Instead, Kohlbacher and Groetzki were constant trouble spots.
The two goalkeepers, who fought a high-class long-distance duel, remained influential figures on the floor. In the middle of the second half the game was still open at 25:25 – and remained so until the dramatic final phase.
In the last minute, the events rolled over again. First the second lion keeper Joel Birlehm defused a seven-meter throw from Reinkind, then Knorr failed with a penalty throw to Mrkva. At the end, the THW cheered.
dpa
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