Handball: Kiel on course for CL round of sixteen

The handball players of THW Kiel have taken a big step towards the next round of the Champions League.

Lead by the strong Swedish runners-up Niclas Ekberg and Lukas Nilsson, the three-time European Champion won the title on 11th place. Group stage matchday against the Hungarian top team KC Veszprem with 22:20 (14:9).

Ekberg scored eight times in the first game of the year, with Nilsson and Miha Zarabec scoring seven times. With 13 points, the fourth-placed Kiel finished last year’s semi-finalists in Group B, with the best five teams reaching the last sixteen.

After a balanced start, coach Alfred Gislason’s team was able to pull away to 12-8 at the end of the first half, thanks in part to good goalkeeper Niklas Landin. Nilsson even put the lead on five goals with his break whistle.

Afterwards, however, Kiel came out of the cabin badly and a 5:1 run of the Hungarians made the game tight again. After a parade by the substitute national goalkeeper Andreas Wolff, Ekberg scored another three goals 21:18, seven minutes before the end. Zarabec scored seven meters to the final score.