Frankfurt / Main (dpa) – The Füchse Berlin have defied their massive personnel problems and claimed third place in the handball Bundesliga.
Despite the loss of ten players, the capital club won against HSV Hamburg with 34:30 (17:15) and continues to be involved in the title fight with 22: 6 points. “I’m extremely proud of the team what they achieved today,” said national player Fabian Wiede on Sky TV.
The first pursuer of the unbeaten front runners SC Magdeburg (28: 0) remains defending champion THW Kiel, who after the 32:29 (18:14) against the Rhein-Neckar Löwen has 24: 6 points. Vice-champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt showed no weakness at 31:21 (13: 9) against SC DHfK Leipzig and completed the top group as fourth with 20: 6 points.
Foxes with Corona cases – Kieler Weinhold extended
Because seven players are currently in quarantine after a positive Corona test and three other players are injured, the Berliners had applied for the game against the promoted team from Hamburg to be postponed. However, this was rejected by the HBL in accordance with the statutes. “We live with it, even if we don’t like it,” said Füchse managing director Bob Hanning before kick-off. The team mastered the challenge mainly thanks to the accuracy of veteran Hans Lindberg (11 goals) and backcourt player Milos Vujovic (9).
Record champions Kiel, with whom ex-national player Steffen Weinhold extended his contract for another year until 2023 before kick-off, found it difficult to play against Rhein-Neckar Löwen and initially ran behind a deficit. Only after 20 minutes did the home side get their opponent under control better and managed the turnaround with a 4-0 run from 9:11 to 13:11 (24th minute).
Until the break, the defending champion had a comforting four-goal cushion, which was claimed after the change and, despite some lack of concentration, was surely kept over the time. «In the final phase we were a little too frivolous. We have to turn that off », said THW managing director Viktor Szilagyi. The winner’s best thrower in front of 5000 spectators was Niclas Ekberg with nine goals. For the lions, director Andy Schmid (10) and left wing Uwe Gensheimer (6) met most often.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 211212-99-356375 / 2
– .
