Handball: Cruciate ligament rupture: National player Kühn misses home World Cup

Heavy blow for the German national team: Backspace ace Julius Kühn suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in the match against Kosovo (30:14) and will therefore be out of action for the home world championship (10 to 27 January).

This was announced by MT Melsungen, the club of the 25-year-old 2016 European champion, on Monday. On Tuesday, MT team physician Dr. Gerd Rauch will operate on Kühn in Kassel, the club expects to lose six months.

“This is terrible and bad news for him personally, for Melsungen and for the national team”, said national coach Christian Prokop to the SID and added with a view to this “shock”:

“Our thoughts are with him. We can only wish him all the best and give him our full strength and support. With his uncanny physique, he has become a constant player in recent years. Opponents must take special measures to stop him.”

MT board member Axel Geerken explained: “Julius Kühn is not only our best goal scorer, but also an important linchpin in the team structure for a long time. That’s a real neck slap. We will try to compensate this loss as much as possible. At the semi-left attack position, we have several options. The extent to which this succeeds must be seen.”

Kühn was the best field goal scorer in the Bundesliga last season. The right-handed player continued his good form in the current season as well, ranking second on the scorer list behind Magdeburg’s Matthias Musche.