Handball
Victory against Montenegro: DHB women go to Paris
The German handball players made their participation in the Olympics perfect. photo
© Marco Wolf/dpa
In the preliminary duel for participation in the Olympics, the DHB selection delivered a strong second half and booked the Paris ticket early. The cheers are huge.
As Germany’s handball players, the first After completing their participation in the Olympics for 16 years, there were first a few tears of joy and relief and later champagne.
“It’s unbelievable that we’re going to Paris. For all of us, the biggest dream is coming true. I’m super happy and extremely proud,” said co-captain Emily Bölk after the 28:24 (11:7) against European Championship third place Montenegro .
Thanks to outsiders Paraguay’s subsequent 14:32 defeat against Slovenia, the DHB selection has already secured its ticket to Paris before the last tournament game against the South Americans on Sunday (1:30 p.m./ARD and Dyn). Afterwards there was a toast in front of the team hotel.
“It’s an incredibly nice feeling. I’m just happy about the achievements that we’ve built up step by step,” said national coach Markus Gaugisch and praised in a short speech: “It was a great journey. You did a great job .”
Goalkeeper Filter once again provided strong support
Led by the outstanding goalkeeper Katharina Filter and the accurate Julia Maidhof, the DHB selection also achieved unchallenged success in the second Olympic qualifying game and is taking part in the Olympics for the first time since 2008 in Beijing. “I’m very happy that we got the job done. Congratulations to the team,” said Gaugisch.
The best German thrower in front of 4,269 spectators in Neu-Ulm was backcourt player Maidhof, who scored nine goals in her 50th international match. “We left no doubt from the first minute that we really wanted it and showed that we were the best team in this tournament,” summed up co-captain Alina Grijseels, who had celebrated her 28th birthday the day before. “This is the best and greatest gift I have received in my life,” said the backcourt player.
The German team started nervously. In contrast to the convincing 31:25 opening win against Slovenia, there was not much success in attack and only one goal in the first seven minutes. At least goalkeeper Filter could be relied upon again. The 25-year-old, who was named the best player of the game after the final whistle, shone with numerous saves and, as against the Slovenians, was the strong support between the posts that had been hoped for.
DHB team is having a hard time offensively until the break
Her teammates were compact on defense, but struggled on offense. Luckily, Maidhof showed great nerve and accuracy, at least in the seven-meter throws. In the middle of the first half, the DHB selection’s cushion was four goals for the first time at 7:3.
Although Montenegro remained scoreless for eight minutes in this phase, the German team was unable to gain a decisive lead because the best chances were repeatedly wasted. It was mainly thanks to Filter that we still went into the break with a four-goal lead.
After the change, the DHB team turned up the heat. Suddenly things were going well on offense too. Within a few minutes, the sixth-placed team in the World Cup pulled away to within ten goals (20:10). This broke the rival’s resistance. With the fans cheering, the German team continued to concentrate in the final stages so that victory was no longer in danger.
After the final whistle, the team was celebrated by the fans for minutes. The Olympic party only starts after the last tournament game against Paraguay. “Tomorrow will be a real celebration because we have a responsibility towards the spectators,” announced Gaugisch. There was no objection from his protégés. “We will toast with apple spritzer because we want to offer the fans something again,” said Filter and added: “But it will still be a nice evening.”