Great start: Pajovic match winner of Kiel

It sounds like a fairytale, but this story has become reality only within a few days: on Saturday evening Ales Pajovic was still sitting in Ciudad Real – and maybe thinking about his future. Due to the regulations of the Spanish league, the Slovenian could not play. There was one foreigner too much in the squad of the Spanish champion that are already trying to get Spanish nationality for Árpad Sterbik and Siarhei Rutenka. Pajovic may even have watched the television to see the serious shoulder injury of Kiel’s star, Nikola Karabatic in Montpelier.

THW had to decide what to do as Karabatic and Filip Jicha will be missing in the next weeks or months. On Sunday morning, THW manager Uwe Schwenker found a solution. He called Talant Dujshebaev to ask if there was a chance to loan Ajes Pajovic to Kiel.

“Talant said that he would call me back in 90 minutes. He wanted to talk to Ales and to the president. 90 minutes later my telephone rang and everything was on its way,” Schwenker said on Wednesday. Then he phoned up Pajovic, who played his last official match two months ago.

“I accepted the offer as soon as I received the okay from the president,” Pajovic says.

He had to be very fast. On Monday morning he caught a plane to Kiel, Monday afternoon he had his first training session with the THW.

“On Tuesday we received the permission from the EHF so Ales was allowed to play on Wednesday in Gummersbach. Simply fantastic,” says Uwe Schwenker. There were less than 48 hours between the first training session and the first match.

“We took him especially to strengthen our defence,” said Schwenker right before Wednesday’s top match of the Toyota-Bundesliga, Gummersbach vs Kiel.

Brilliant in attack

Everyone – including the player himself – was surprised when coach Noka Serdarusic sent him on court for the first attack. And Gummersbach were so surprised that they didn’t have means to stop the 150-time Slovenian international. In the first 16 minutes the “Balkan hammer” scored four goals, seven at halftime.

As Kiel celebrated the very important 33:31 (17:13) victory, Ales Pajovic was THW’s top scorer with ten goals.

“It was brilliant, I don’t know what to say,” commented Pajovic in front of a hundred fans and journalists who came for signatures interviews. Even for the Slovenian TV was there.

“I thought, I should play in the defence, but I think I made a good match also in attack,” Pajovic said and smiled. His contract in Kiel – that is only valid for Bundesliga and not for Champions League - lasts until the end of the year when Kiel hopes that Jicha and Karabatic will return.

“I did not imagine or expect that Ales would make such an extraordinary match,” said Serdarusic.

The player was also impressed – not only by his own performance, but by the atmosphere created by nearly 12,000 spectators in the Kölnarena: “The German league is great, so many spectators, such a great speed. It’s a huge feeling to play here.”

Satisfied new team mates

Pajovic meets a Slovenian friend, Vid Katvicnik, in the team:

“That’s great. We have known each other for so long. I did not expect to play with him again.”

In fact, Pajovic could have become a THW player even earlier. “We wanted to sign him some years ago, but it was not possible,” said Schwenker, who also praised Pajovic:

“A great player – without him we would not have been able to win this match.”

Serdarusic agrees: “Karabatic, Zeitz and Jicha are out, so we did not have good hopes. Now with Pajovic we are still able to catch up with the best of the Bundesliga. Unfortunately, he can’t help us in Champions League.”

This was an important part in the agreement between Kiel and Ciudad Real:

“I have to thank Talant Duschebajew and Ciudad Real for their cooperation. But as they also want to win the Champions league, it was clear for us that we would not ask them for a permission for the CL….”