Suspended from duty after a positive doping test: Magdeburg’s goalkeeper Nikola Portner
The women’s selection of the German Handball Association (DHB), along with the men, is traveling to Paris this summer: Coach Markus Gaugisch’s team qualified for the Olympics last weekend. On Thursday in Neu-Ulm the Germans easily beat the Slovenians 31:25 (17:14). Two days later, the Olympic ticket was bought early against what was nominally the toughest group opponent, Montenegro. Bölk, Grijseels and Co. made it clear that German handball players took part in the games for the first time since Beijing 2008 with a 28:24 (11:7). The last game against the outsiders from Paraguay the next day was more than just an expiration, as it was about promoting themselves once again in order to be allowed to move to the Olympic Village. The Latin Americans kept pace at the beginning, but had to back off in the second half and lost 20:37 (13:19). Meanwhile, Slovenia beat Montenegro 30:26 (14:11) and will be one of twelve teams at the Summer Games.
Meanwhile, for men, the Final Four of the DHB Cup took place in Cologne. After SC Magdeburg had already beaten Füchse Berlin in the last league duel, the Saxony-Anhalt team also won the semi-final on Saturday (30:25; 14:10). The SCM was surprisingly followed by MT Melsungen into the final. The team with the beautiful backcourt (center Erik Balenciaga is 1.69 meters tall, Dainis Krištopāns on the right is 2.19 meters) beat Flensburg 33:28 (16:11). The North Germans, in turn, came third against the tired capital city team (31:28; 15:19). In the final on Sunday, the favorites started off erratically, motivated Melsunger kept up and were only two goals behind at the break (11:13). But then Magdeburg showed its qualities: Lukas Mertens came on the plate and scored seven goals from seven attempts in one half as a left winger. The 30:19 victory was mainly due to Spanish goalkeeper Sergey Hernández, who was subsequently named player of the tournament. After an outstanding 17 saves in the semifinals, he saved 15 balls in the final.
Hernández’s brilliant achievements were those in troubled times: In addition to horrendous ticket prices for the final tournament and rumors of Juri Knorr’s move from the Rhein-Neckar Löwen to Aalborg, handball Germany was primarily discussing the positive doping test of the other Magdeburg goalkeeper, Nikola Portner, before the weekend. The Swiss national goalkeeper’s sample showed traces of crystal meth. He will be missed by his club until further notice. We are waiting for the B sample.
