After a draw against Dormagen at Round 1, Kiel won 27 consecutive matches this season and were unbeaten from December 2007.

“The defeat won’t bring us down,” THW coach Alfred Gislasson said after the match. “The situation of the knee of Nikola Karabatic and the severe injury of Filip Jicha mean much more worry for us.”

Jicha clashed with Holger Glandorf in the second half and had to be rushed to hospital with a neck and head injury after being unconscious for a few seconds. This means the second serious injury of a THW player after Kim Andersson broke his hand last week.

Jicha will definitely not be able to play in the Champions League semi-finals against Rhein Nckar Löwen at the weekend.

In Lemgo Kiel were also disadvantaged by a red card against goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer in the 27th minute. The Frenchman hit Lemgo player Vignier Svavasson who received a red card too.

After quite a good THW start, Lemgo went away to 12:6 and 21:13, before Kiel reduced the gap a little bit. But the match was decided at 27:17.

As Kiel are going for their next title, Hamburg and Löwen remain on the qualification ranks for next season’s Champions League. But as Löwen have to play against Kiel in the league too, Lemgo (one point behind Löwen) still have a chance to qualify for the “King’s class”.

Hamburg prepare with victory

Hamburg will play against Spanish champion Ciudad Real in the other CL semi-final. They have beaten Nordhorn by 36:32. Coach Martin Schwalb hopes that pivot Bertrand Gille will be fit for the revenge of last season’s semi-final.

TEXT: Björn Pazen