THW Kiel (Germany) and HC Vojvodina (Serbia) advanced to the main round of the European League.
THW Kiel and Vojvodina each won the 4th round match of Group E of the 2024/25 EHF Men’s European League group stage held on the 29th (local time) and confirmed their advancement to the main round.
There are still two more rounds left, but THW Kiel is in first place with 4 wins (8 points), Vojvodina is in 2nd place with 3 wins and 1 loss (6 points), and RK Nexe Croatia and Bako BM Bathco BM Torrelavega (Spain) recorded 1 draw and 3 losses (1 point) and advanced to the main round regardless of the results of the remaining games.
THW Kiel Germany 31-28 RK Nexe Croatia
First, THW Kiel defeated RK Nexe Croatia 31-28 in front of 5,000 spectators at the Wunderino-Arena in Kiel, Germany. THW Kiel, who won 35-26 in the first game away, confirmed their advancement to the main round with the support of the home crowd.
The start was a bit difficult, but THW Kill took control of the game at a fast tempo and widened the score gap. Tensions increased in the second half as they were allowed to chase, but goalkeeper Andreas Wolff’s saves and the attackers’ performances resulted in victory. In particular, Wolff Andreas played a decisive role in the team’s victory by recording 20 saves.
On this day, approximately 1,000 special guests working in the social welfare field, including nursing homes, emergency services, and fire departments, also enjoyed Kiel’s great game. THW Kiel expressed its gratitude to them through a special ticket event, and they created a heated atmosphere at the Kiel Handball Stadium.
THW Kill, which started off with two goals, soon tied the score at 2-2, but it developed into a chasing situation. Thanks to Andreas Wolff’s save, they were able to catch up without falling behind, but they gave up three goals in a row and fell behind 5-9. Wallinius Karl scored 4 goals in a row in 4 minutes to make it 9-10, and then added 2 more goals to bring the score to 11-10. The THW kill that set the tone ended the first half with a 15-12 lead.
In the second half, THW Kill continued its offensive and ran away with a 20-15 lead, and with a goal from Balinius, it went up to 26-19, and with a goal from Rune Damke, it went up to 28-20, an 8-goal lead. However, Nexe did not give up and kept up, giving up 6 goals in a row, narrowing the gap to 28-26, to 2 goals.
THW Kiel regained stability with the introduction of Duvnjak Domagoj and Madsen Emil Wernsdorf, and scored 4 goals in a row to take the lead by 30-26 and finish with 31-28.
HC Vojvodina Serbia 33-26 Bathco BM Torrelavega Spain
Vojvodina advanced to the main round for the second year in a row by winning 33-26 against Bathco BM Torrelavega (Spain) held in Pabellon Vicente Trueba, Torrelavega-Cantabria on the 29th.
Vojvodina showed perfect attack and defense in the first half and took a large lead of 16-8. In particular, Vorkapic Vukasin scored on all of his first seven shots, scoring the most goals on the day with a total of 11 goals.
It was tight at the beginning of the second half, but Torrelave narrowed the gap to 20-15, 5 goals, in the 40th minute. However, Vojvodina scored three goals in a row to go up 24-16, leading by 7 to 9 points, and in the 53rd minute, the lead was 31-21, or 10 goals. Although they gave up 3 goals in the last minute, Vojvodina won 33-26.
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