Ahlm out until the end of 2010

The frustrating series of injuries at THW Kiel continues: Following the long-term injuries to key players Daniel Narcisse, Kim Andersson and Christian Zeitz, the reigning champion of the VELUX EHF Champions League now has to replace line-player and team captain Marcus Ahlm, too.

The Swedish international broke his metacarpus (hand bone) in the match at Rhein Neckar Löwen on Friday (30:30). THW doctors say that Ahlm will be out at least until the end of the year. In addition, right-winger Christian Sprenger was also injured at Mannheim, and the official diagnosis of his ankle injury will be announced on Monday.

"It’s a really tough situation for us," manager Uli Derad said, "I hope we can still cope, as we have done up until now. Our problem is that the list of players who are able to stand on the court gets smaller every day."

Kiel reacted quickly at the start of the season, when Narcisse was ruled-out with a rupture of the crucial ligament: they immediately signed Jerome Fernandez from Ciudad Real. But the fact that both of their left-handed back-court players (Andersson and Zeitz) will be missing for weeks, weakens the German and CL Champion. "We don’t have time to rest, as all the key players have to play for 60 minutes each game – and we still have another eight matches ahead in 2010," says Kiel’s top scorer Filip Jicha, currently with 41 goals in the VELUX EHF Champions League.