Big names in the duel for the third place

Five former or current World Handball Players of the Year (Thierry Omeyer, Nikola Karabatic, Daniel Narcisse, Mikkel Hansen and Domagoj Duvnjak) will play in the match for 3/4 at the VELUX EHF FINAL4 in Cologne on Sunday at 15:15 local time. A number of fans and experts had expected THW Kiel and Paris Saint-Germain Handball to be part of the final, but both lost their semis on Saturday.

VELUX EHF FINAL4 - third place match:

Paris Saint-Germain Handball vs THW Kiel
Sunday, 29 May 2016, 15:15 hrs local time

Both FINAL4 debutants Paris and three-time EHF Champions League winners Kiel were disappointed, and believe it will be hard to motivate themselves ahead of the game.

“We have to keep our heads up high now. There is still something at the stake,” said THW left wing Dominik Klein, who will play his last international match for Kiel on Sunday after 10 years with the German team, before he leaves to join French side Nantes.

During the current season THW and PSG locked horns twice, and Paris were the clear winners in both duels (30:26, 37:30) – their first ever victories against Kiel after six defeats in their previous six meetings.

The match is something special for PSG coaches Noka Serdarusic and Staffan Olsson, who have coached and played, respectively, at Kiel – and definitely for Nikola Karabatic, Thierry Omeyer and Daniel Narcisse, who won the EHF Champions League with Kiel.

“It is bitter not to play the final,” said Karabatic, who won the 2015 edition of the VELUX EHF FINAL4 with Barcelona. Karabatic’s absence from the final means that again, not a single player will defend his title at Cologne.

Kiel lost on both occasions they played the 3/4 match in Cologne, recording defeats against Kielce in 2013 and 2015.

PSG striker Mikkel Hansen has all but secured the top scorer title of the season, as he is 18 goals ahead of Momir Ilic (131:113) on the ranking.