Handball: Spectacular party at SAP Garden

Exciting matches with a shootout as the highlight, a sold-out arena, and a fantastic atmosphere – after the Handball Supercup in the sold-out SAP Garden in Munich in front of 10,298 spectators on Saturday, those involved were practically raving about it. "I don't know if there's ever been a better Supercup game," said Frank Bohmann, Managing Director of the Handball Bundesliga (HBL), referring to the men's match, emphasizing: "You couldn't wish for a better start to the season."

Former German national player Stefan Kretzschmar had said before the Berlin Füchse 's clash with THW Kiel that the title "shouldn't be overestimated." However, after the 34:33 penalty shootout loss (31:31, 19:14) against the cup winners, the sporting director of the now two-time Supercup winners was also able to report from the locker room: The title was something "we were very happy about, of course."

In the women's competition, the Thüringer HC, a reserve team, won for the fourth time in a row. After a spectacular comeback and at one point a nine-goal deficit, coach Herbert Müller's team, which had sensationally won the European League in May, defeated the championship runner-up HSG Blomberg-Lippe 31:30 (10:14).

Both matches were thrilling, with HBL boss Bohmann, for example, expressing enthusiasm for the men's game: "The fact that both teams put in so much effort shows how seriously they both took it," he noted. "Great event, great venue, an absolutely worthy start to the season," said Viktor Szilagyi, a satisfied-looking managing director of the narrowly defeated Kiel team.

The Supercup was held in Munich for the first time since 2012. The HBL has awarded the season opening game for this year and at least the next to the new high-tech arena in the Olympic Park.

The new men's Bundesliga season begins next Wednesday. On the long night drive home, the champion handball players of Füchse Berlin toasted their renewed Supercup triumph in the team bus. After arriving in the capital, leader Mathias Gidsel and his team turned their attention back to the tough battle for the title in the 60th Bundesliga season, which begins on Wednesday. "After last year, it would be wrong to say we want to be number two in the Bundesliga," said Gidsel, the Supercup winner's top scorer with eight goals. "We have enough quality to attack all the targets. But that doesn't mean we'll win everything. We know that nothing will come easy this season just because we're German champions."