Flensburg crown Kiel German champion

Though THW did not even play, the 15th German title in the history of the club was officially conquered on Tuesday night exactly at 21:57hrs. The “Zebras” are the first handball club in Germany to take five consecutive Bundesliga titles.

The runner-up HSV Hamburg lost at SG Flensburg-Handewitt by 32:28 (15:14). “THW Kiel fully deserved the German title,“ said HSV coach Martin Schwalb. “Alfred Gislason and his team worked on an incredibly high level and made no mistakes,” he added.

SG Flensburg’s manager, Fynn Hilpert, said with a smile: “We are happy that we could make champions out of a team.”

It was not a very spectacular game, but a partly very nervous one. Already in the early minutes Dimitri Torgovanov and Michael Knudsen received two suspensions. The HSV tried with a very open defence and also Flensburg were trying different solutions in defence as Johnny Jensen could only play a short period.

The hosts calmed down first and after 7:3 (14th min) and 11:6 (21th min) they stabilised their lead with a very reliable Dan Beutler in the goal. HSV could reduce the difference with good individual performances and fast breaks and came back to one goal before half-time. The second half was very colourful. Dimitri Torgovanov (33rd min) and Michael Knudsen (39th min) were given the red card and there was a lot of tension in the game.

Supported by 6,300 fans, the hosts switched to a higher gear. Though HSV could come back twice after 23:20 (45th min), the unstoppable Lasse Boesen and the saves of Dan Beutler finally decided the game.

Actually both teams would need at least 10 days of rest after such an intensive game. Flensburg will get it, HSV will play the semi-finals in the Champions League on Saturday against Ciudad Real.