At the weekend (April 1st and 2nd) the final four of the women’s DHB Cup will take place in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart. The defending champions from Bietigheim meet TuS Metzingen in the semifinals.
They know and appreciate each other – on and off the record: Antje Döll (SG BBM Bietigheim) and Maren Weigel (TuS Metzingen) have been playing against each other in the Bundesliga for years, and side by side in the national team. On Saturday there will be a showdown between the two clubs from Swabia. Friendship or not: “We’re both ambitious and want to win. The 60 minutes, that’s about everything,” stresses Döll.
Bietigheim in the role of favorites
Even if the line runner “doesn’t see it that way”: The leaders of the Handball Bundesliga are also the favorites for the cup. Bietigheim is in the 18th game in the league without losing a point. Metzingen is in fifth place. “It’s a game. No one will excuse you if you make a mistake. It’ll get down to business,” Döll knows. “We’ve had the experience of being kicked out against a supposedly weaker opponent. We don’t want to experience that again.” Opponent Weigel, who plays in the right backcourt, sees the roles more clearly divided: “Of course, Bietigheim is the favorite for us. We’ve always lost the last few games, but we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t also want to win.”
And because everyone wants to win, the rest of the team is also being prepared for their colleague from the national team: “I will definitely give my team-mate, who will defend against Maren, a few tips. For example, that she has a special feint, that you should pay attention to,” reveals Döll.
Saisonhighlight Final Four
The Final Four is a big event for all participating teams. “There are four teams there, many spectators who come from all over Germany. The whole atmosphere makes you want to play. It’s the finals, you can’t allow yourself any bad minutes,” emphasizes the Bietigheim native. She should know: the now 34-year-old won the German championship three times, the cup twice and even the EHF European League last year with SG BBM. For Maren Weigel, success in the cup would be the first title. But there is hardly a trace of tension: “For me, anticipation prevails. There is such a basic tension before every game, especially when you can achieve something big. Just when you think about what you can achieve. It tickles so much slow.”
In the second semi-final, Oldenburg (7th in the Handball Bundesliga) meets HSG Bensheim/Auerbach (8th place). Döll and Weigel do not want to confirm that their two teams drew the supposedly harder lot: “You can’t write off a team in the Final Four,” says Weigel. “In the end you have to win against everyone if you want to win the title,” adds Döll. “But to be honest, I find each of the four teams very uncomfortable to play on.” A final game between the two Baden-Württemberg teams would “of course also be a hit”.
But it will not come to that. Whoever has the upper hand in the duel on Saturday (3:15 p.m.) and has the opportunity to win the title on Sunday (5:05 p.m.) will probably also decide the form on the day. The only thing that is certain is that nothing on the record is given for free.
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