The break in the schedule was unusually long. But on Sunday, SG Flensburg-Handewitt is finally back in action and will face HC Hamburg in a northern derby. The game tips off at 6 p.m. at the GGW Arena.
Aleš Pajović has opened a notepad on the table. Listed on the paper are numerous plays by the upcoming opponent. “We’re prepared,” grins the SG coach. “The win in Lemgo was a huge mental boost, but it certainly didn’t make us complacent.” By Sunday, the impressive 39–30 victory in Westphalia will have been ten days ago. The SG has made good use of this unusual break. They’ve added a few extra strength training sessions and fine-tuned their own system. Aleš Pajović taps the table cheerfully: “Everyone is healthy.” This will increase the squad depth to 15 players, as Kent Robin Tønnesen is set to make his season debut. Luca Witzke will participate in the warm-up, though on Friday he trained individually with assistant coach Simon Hennig, focusing specifically on handball. We’ll have to wait a little longer before he takes the court.
A win to kick off the busy stretch?
HC Hamburg has a new name, but is still waiting for its first win of the season. “They’ve had a tough schedule—in Balingen, for example, even Magdeburg only managed a lucky win,” reports Aleš Pajović. “And then Moritz Sauter’s injury really hurt.” The playmaker suffered a torn cruciate ligament. Others will now have to take on more responsibility. Take the Austrian Elias Kofler, for instance, whom the SG coach knows from their time together on the national team. “He’s a real fighter and has taken a few steps forward,” Aleš Pajović observed. For his SG team, it will come down to maintaining the right mindset, playing with consistency and focus, and leveraging home-court advantage. Things are heating up again in the “Northern Hell.” A win would be worth its weight in gold ahead of an upcoming, extended stretch of midweek games. “We’re facing some tough months ahead,” Aleš Pajović acknowledges. On Wednesday, they’ll travel to VfL Lübeck-Schwartau for the DHB Cup, followed by the 117th regional derby in Kiel. The coaching staff has already prepared video analysis for both matches over the past few days.