HBL: Leipzig starts easily, champion Magdeburg has to fight

The handball players of SC DHfK Leipzig have successfully started their tenth Bundesliga season. Coach Runar Sigtryggsson’s team won their home game against TVB Stuttgart on Sunday afternoon in front of almost 3,700 spectators with a clear 33:24 (15:12).

Leipzig started better, but the level remained manageable in the first 15 minutes. From the middle of the first half, the tempo on both sides increased significantly, and with it the attractiveness of the game. A change of goalkeeper also paid off for Leipzig. Norwegian Olympic participant Kristian Saeveras, who came on for Domenico Ebner, got into the game straight away and helped the hosts to a three-goal lead by halftime.

In the second half, SC DHfK started furiously and went ahead with a 5-0 run to 20:12 (37th minute). Although the hosts’ enthusiasm waned somewhat, Stuttgart were unable to capitalize on this because Saeveras (ten saves in total) continued to hold strong. In the final phase, Leipzig picked up the pace again and were leading by ten goals at one point. The best scorer was Matej Klima with seven goals.

Magdeburg is struggling

Double winner SC Magdeburg had some difficulty starting the new Bundesliga season on Saturday. In the 35:28 (18:16) against HSG Wetzlar, an improvement in performance in the second half was needed for a successful start to the season. The 41:35 (19:17) victory of runner-up Füchse Berlin against ThSV Eisenach was also a close affair for a long time.

Magdeburg’s Omar Ingi Magnusson was the most successful scorer with nine goals in front of 6,600 spectators. Bennet Wiegert’s team was trailing for a long time and only managed to gain their first two-point lead shortly before half-time.

After the break, things improved for the 2023 Champions League winners. Sergey Hernandez Ferrer parried a few shots in goal, the quality of the finishing increased significantly up front and the SCM pulled ahead with six goals in a row to make it 28:20.

Märtens and Wiegert satisfied

“We got the opening win today, that was important for us”said national player Lukas Märtens on ARD. “Getting off to a good start in front of our own fans will be good for the next few weeks.” Coach Wiegert was also satisfied afterwards. “The conclusion is good. This is a Bundesliga game and anyone who expected us to beat Wetzlar into the ground does not know their quality.”said the 42-year-old.

Foxes get rolling late

The Füchse won in a heated atmosphere and with a lot of effort against ThSV Eisenach. The best Berlin scorers were Mathias Gidsel and Tim Freihöfer with twelve goals each. The Füchse initially struggled against the hosts’ offensive defense, but as the game went on, the Berlin team improved in attack. After the break, coach Jaron Siewert’s team continued to push the pace and the outsiders from Eisenach could no longer keep up.

Flensburg beats Erlangen

The SG Flensburg-Handewitt coached by Nicolej Krickau defeated the HC Erlangen on Friday with a clear 42:28 (22:12), the most successful scorer of the North German team was the Danish Olympic champion Emil Jakobsen with eleven goals.

In the second game of the evening, Frisch Auf Göppingen and HSV Hamburg drew 25:25 (13:10).

Kiel with clear defeat at the Lions

On Thursday, national goalkeeper Andreas Wolff experienced a very disappointing Bundesliga return with Kiel. Although the star newcomer put in a good performance, the record champions were still beaten 27:32 (14:14) by the Rhein-Neckar Löwen and suffered a setback right at the start.

“It hurts to lose the first game after returning”Wolff said on “Dyn”: “We said we wanted to attack at the top – and now we already have two negative points after the first matchday.”

Martinovic scores double figures for the Lions

Croatian Ivan Martinovic (10 goals) scored the most goals for Mannheim, which included four German Olympic silver medalists: playmaker Juri Knorr, backcourt player Sebastian Heymann, pivot Jannik Kohlbacher and goalkeeper David Späth.

Kiel ran out of ideas in the second half, especially in attack. Wolff’s national team colleague Späth also turned up the heat in the duel between the disappointed teams from the previous season.

Great hopes for Wolff

Unlike in his first time at THW, when Wolff was often only number two behind the Dane Niklas Landin, the 33-year-old is now set to become the team’s sporting cornerstone – and lead it to success again. In the previous season, he only managed fourth place and, until the Supercup at the start of the season, the team had its first titleless season since 2018.

Melsungen leaves Lemgo no chance

MT Melsungen and VfL Gummersbach had also made an excellent start. European Cup participant Gummersbach, including returning player Kentin Mahé, beat TSV Hannover-Burgdorf 32:28 (15:15) in a long, close duel and gained further confidence before the return match in the fight for participation in the group phase of the European League.

Vujovic top scorer with eight goals

Milos Vujovic was the best scorer for the Bergische team in Lower Saxony with eight goals. French European champion Mahé, who made his comeback in the Bundesliga after six years, contributed four goals. The Gummersbach team will now continue in the European League: The team led by national player Julian Köster wants to make it into the group phase of the second highest European competition in front of their own fans on Sunday (4.30 p.m.) against Mors-Thy Håndbold, and their chances are excellent after the 35:22 win in the first leg.

Hannover, seventh last season, were not helped by four goals from shooting star Renars Uscins and a long, good performance from new signing Joel Birlehm (from the Rhein-Neckar Löwen) in goal. Marius Steinhauser scored the most goals for the team of former national coach Christian Prokop (10 goals).

Melsungen confident in the second round

In the second game, MT Melsungen had little trouble beating TBV Lemgo Lippe 28:20 (13:11). The performance in the second half in particular was very confident.