It cuts both ways for the hairdresser and the farmer

Four German players have won the Women’s EHF Champions League to date, and as Grit Jurack and Nora Reiche (both winners with Viborg) have finished their careers, only two are still active on the court.

On Sunday, Anja Althaus (2009, 2010 winner with Viborg) and Clara Woltering (2012 with Buducnost) will face in the prestigious opener of the new season, when the re-match of last season’s semi-final Buducnost vs Vardar Skopje (Althaus’ new club) will be staged in the Montenegrin capital.

It will be a face-to-face-duel of two players, who have been best friends for over a decade, when both started to play for the German national team.

“Anja is my defensive boss in the national team – and I know that you always can rely on her. We play in the national team and we have a perfect relationhip. Wherever Anja is, there is fun – she is a little bit crazy. But for Sunday I do hope not to see here so many times in front of my goal,” says Woltering.

“Clara is a completely crazy goalkeeper with extra-terrestrial moves. I have the biggest respect for her performance.

“She has gained huge experience at Buducnost and this experience combined with her crazy style of saving shots makes her extremely dangerous for all other teams. But it will be great to face her and to score against her,” says line player Althaus.

Coloured history

Both do not only have this certain craziness in common, but also untypical jobs: Woltering is a agricultural engineer, who will take over her parents’ farm after her handball career, including 250 bulls and thousands of chickens. Althaus is hairdresser – “and having those skills she was very useful for our team,” says Woltering in appreciation.

“Clara – like me - was always happy to try out new hair styles and colours. We both did not care what other people thought about what we had on our heads. We had a lot of good and bad experiments – and finally we both ended up blond at the moment,” explains Althaus.

The common story of success – highlighted by the 2007 World Championship bronze medal and participation at the 2008 Olympic Games – began on the bence in Cakovec, Croatia.

“In 2003, when we were the youngest ones in our national team squad, we did not have that much playing time. But we had the most fun of all when we were sitting on this tribune, joking about everything.

“Even last weekend, when we met at the national team in Croatia, we were reminded of those funny days,” Woltering says. And Althaus adds: “Unfortunately for this and many more of our stories, we agreed that we will not talk about it in public.”

After both had faced several times in Bundesliga, where Althaus played for former champions DJK/MJC Trier and Woltering saved for record champions Bayer Leverkusen, they had their first Champions League duels in 2012: “It was a brilliant day, from which I remember most that I had played despite a broken finger and a huge cast at my hands,” Althaus remembers the 24:20 win of her former club Thüringer HC against Woltering and Buducnost.

“But Anja will not talk about the second leg, mainly not on their attack performance,” insists Woltering. The final result of this group match game was a 23:15 for the Montenegrins.

“I know what we can expect on Sunday – and my teammates who have faced Buducnost hundreds of times know it even better,” is Althaus opinion on their first round duel in the Moraca arena.

“Thanks to the home advantage, Podgorica are the favourites,” says the new Vardar line player, who has a collection of more than hundred pair of shoes and is nicknamed Oscar.

“No, Vardar are the favourites despite some injury problems,” says “Clärchen” Woltering: “But both teams will be on an even footing, as it is the first real match for both sides in a really long season.”

She has played for Buducnost since 2011 and since 2013 is the team captain. The fact that Woltering wears the Podgorica shirt is also down, in some part, to Althaus: “When she got the offer, we talked a lot about going abroad. I had already played four season in Denmark at that time, so I gave Clara the clear advice: If you have the chance to once in your lifetime be in a team with Bojana Popovic, do it!”

In spring, Althaus had her Vardar offer – and decided without hesitation. Now both best friends share the dream of the Women’s EHF FINAL4 in Budapest.

“It would be great to be there and even better if Anja also made it,” Woltering hopes. 

But far from the thoughts of Budapest is the first round and Althaus will have to face “the hardest possible opponent you can face in an opener” on Sunday evening.