Lion swatter despite Knorr Gala
Frightening of favorites helps Berlin to first place
03/16/2023 9:36 p.m
The championship fight in the German Handball League is becoming more and more of a thriller. After the international break, league leaders Rhein-Neckar Löwen went bankrupt, and defending champion SC Magdeburg also lost. The foxes Berlin take advantage of this immediately.
Füchse Berlin have regained the lead in the Handball Bundesliga. The club from the capital came to a 38:33 (22:16) against VfL Gummersbach and benefited from the simultaneous 29:37 (13:19) defeat of the Rhein-Neckar Löwen at the fright of favorites SC DHfK Leipzig. The Saxons had previously defeated record champions THW Kiel and defending champions SC Magdeburg. The master also made a mistake. Coach Bennet Wiegert’s team lost 31:34 (14:17) at TSV Hannover-Burgdorf and suffered another setback in the title race.
Berlin now leads the table with 39:7 points ahead of the Löwen (37:9) and Kiel (34:8). Magdeburg (33:9) and SG Flensburg-Handewitt (32:10) can also still hope for the championship. “It will be an exciting fight to the end,” predicted Foxes trainer Jaron Siewert on Sky. While the Berliners did not show any weakness against the promoted team from Gummersbach, their rivals suffered bitter bankruptcies. “Of course it’s nice for us if the others lose points,” said Siewert.
Magdeburg were five goals down in Hannover midway through the second half and equalized within five minutes with a 6-1 run. But in the final phase, the SCM could no longer increase. “I’m not at all happy with the first half. We missed a lot there,” complained Wiegert. “The impact is tough. If you want to achieve the big goals, you should avoid defeats like that. It hurts.”
The Rhein-Neckar Löwen, who had no chance in Leipzig at 29:37, were hit even harder. Even eleven goals by director Juri Knorr were not enough to avert the clear defeat. “Leipzig was superior to us in every respect,” admitted international Patrick Groetzki. Leipzig got into a frenzy against the lions at times. The trembling hall with 5466 spectators did the rest. Viggo Kristjansson was the top scorer after 60 minutes with 11 goals for the hosts, who continue to have an impeccable record this year. For the lions standing next to each other, it was the first defeat after ten wins in a row across all competitions.
In the relegation battle, TVB Stuttgart also got an enormously important victory and aggravated the situation of the penultimate TSV GWD Minden. The Swabians won in a direct duel 29:23 (14:12). After the seventh defeat in a row, the Mindeners threaten to lose touch with the non-relegation places.