Final! Strong performance of KIT handball players

With mixed feelings the Wettkampfgemeinschaft went to the intermediate round of the DHM 2014 in Erlangen. On the one hand, they had to cope with the cancellation of some players in advance, on the other hand, there was little experience about the level of play of the two Bavarian participants Erlangen and Augsburg, who played together with the WG from Constance and Karlsruhe for the final participation of the Handball DHM in Berlin.

The team from Karlsruhe had to play their first match against Wettkampfgemeinschaft Konstanz. In the preliminary round in Constance, they had to accept a narrow defeat against the then host, but on this day they turned the tables and won after a long contested game with 27:22 goals.

The opponent in the second game was WG Augsburg, who could already be observed earlier in the game against Erlangen. From these realizations the play shaper from Augsburg was taken into a direct Manndeckung, which did not really taste the offensive play of the Bavarian Swabians. Thus one won, despite some own tuning problems, the play against Augsburg at the end likewise clearly with 29:24 goals. Keeper Jonathan Binder was particularly impressive in this game, and his precise counter-attacking passes to our two speedy outfield players led to a number of easy goals.

Since the last opponent, the host from Erlangen, could also win their two games against Konstanz and Augsburg, it came to a real showdown in the last game of the tournament. It was clear to both teams that only the winner would go to Berlin (Erlangen would have been sufficient with a draw due to the better goal difference)! With the clear goal in mind, the team from the fan city went highly motivated into the final and led quickly with 4 goals. Maxi Vollmer in particular was able to assert herself again and again on the circle and was hardly to be controlled in the initial phase. The hosts from Erlangen, who had added two new players for the final, then got into the game better and were quickly able to reduce the lead to 2 goals and equalize shortly before halftime. That the team from Baden could still go into halftime with a lead, however, they owed to the quick reaction of Kevin Urban, who with the halftime siren directly from the kickoff the ball past the surprised keeper from Erlangen into the net. In the second half, the game became a real thriller. While neither team was able to pull away in the first few minutes, the team from Karlsruhe managed to pull away with an irrepressible will to score 5 goals about 8 minutes before the end. The students from Karlsruhe seemed to be on the best way to the final in Berlin, but almost all of them had already played more than 100 minutes of mostly very competitive handball at this point and this was noticeable. In the attack they crept in some concentration errors, which punished the host from Bavaria immediately with fast counterattack goals and 5 minutes before the end on 2 goals could shorten. When a clear, penalty-worthy foul on Marco Kikillus was punished by the referees as a striker's foul and the strongly playing Daniel Grimm had to serve a 2-minute time penalty for allegedly complaining, the momentum seemed to be on the side of the hosts at 20:20. But so close to the desired goal, the team showed an irrepressibly strong will and incredible cohesion. Once again outnumbered, they fought for every inch on defense and forced the team from Erlangen to make difficult throws. In attack, Marco Kikillus with an incredible "wobbler", as well as Daniel Grimm in inimitable style, ensured a renewed lead 60 seconds before the end of the game. After the hosts could not successfully complete their last attack, Christian Fritz's goal on the counterattack 24:21 seconds before the end was drowned in the jubilation of victory.
After this final there is actually only one thing to say: These guys have earned it!!! Who delivers such a fight after 120 minutes of handball and only 2 substitutes, who must go to Berlin.

The WG Karlsruhe manages it thereby for the second time in consequence the qualification to the final round of the German championships! Congratulations to them. Special thanks to "newcomer Kevin" Urban, as well as the "returnee" Pascal Boudgoust who were only committed the night before and have spontaneously accepted.