World Sport News

Andy Schmid and Clara Woltering (both 34) are Germany’s Handball Player of the Year.

The playmaker of the German champion Rhein-Neckar Löwen won the readers’ poll of the trade magazine Handballwoche for the first time, and the goalkeeper from Dortmund won the most votes for the third time after 2009 and 2010.

“In recent years, German handball players have always been voted for, which is why I consider it a special honour to receive this award as a foreign player,”said Schmid.

In the men’s singles, Kiel international Andreas Wolff, who won the 2016 and 2015 elections, and Steffen Weinhold finished second and third. Like Wolff, Anna Loerper from Bietigheim had to make do with second place for the women this time, Emily Bölk (Buxtehude) finished third.

The Handball of the Year award has been held since 1978. The first winners were former national coach Heiner Brand and Veronika Maaß.