A three-story trolley was meticulously prepared: two cases of sparkling wine on top, two cases of beer in the middle, and several cans of spiritual mixed drinks below. In the sports hall on the viaduct in Bietigheim-Bissingen, Swabia, the final siren had not yet ended when the serving trolley, which had been put together to meet the individual needs of the players, was already being pushed onto the field. Seconds later, the sparkling wine splashed through the hall.
This fourth German championship title did not come as a bit of a surprise for the handball players of the SG BBM Bietigheim; it was clear throughout the league that they would defend their title from last season. The Bietigheimer dominance in the women’s handball Bundesliga has reached a dimension that is unprecedented in the German sports landscape.
Three games before the end of the season, they extended their record to 46:0 points with a 34:21 win against HSG Bensheim/Auerbach, after having won the championship with 52:0 points last season. The success on Saturday was the 55th Bundesliga win in a row for Bietigheim. Their last defeat in the Bundesliga so far was on March 31, 2021, when they lost to then champions Borussia Dortmund.
At the head of a top-class team with the German national players Julia Maidhof, Xenia Smits, Jenny Behrend and Antje Döll, the Dutch national players Kelly Dulfer and Inger Smits as well as international stars such as the Danes Trine Östergaard and Annika Meyer, the Spaniard Kaba Gassama and the Polish Karolina Kudlacz-Gloc and Melinda Szikora, the trainer Markus Gaugisch is the architect of success. For the 49-year-old Swabian, a three-year era of success ends in Bietigheim. Already for a year club and German national coach in double function, he focuses on the position of national coach from now on.
“The girls have done great over the years,” Gaugisch roared into a microphone on Saturday with his champagne-soaked hair, while the extroverted fans literally banged their drums: “I can check it, I really enjoyed the time, and so it’s okay that it’s over now.”
Gaugisch’s successor will be the Dane Jakob Vestergaard, 48, who was also the German national coach for a year in 2015. While four departures have already been confirmed in Julia Maidhof (Ramnicu Valcea/Romania), Kim Naidzinavicius (Bensheim), Trine Östergaard (Bucharest) and Kerstin Kündig (Thüringer HC), the club is strengthening with national players Klara Birtic (Croatia), Dorottya Faluvegi ( Hungary) as well as Isabelle Andersson and Sofia Hvenfelt (both Swedes). This not only makes another season in the Bundesliga without defeat possible, but also the knockout phase in the Champions League, which the Bietigheim team missed this season.
Under Gaugisch they won the national cup three times, the league title twice and last year the European League. The Champions League triumph is the last unfulfilled dream.