THW Kiel Win | Duvnjak Contract Extension

by Tobias Knaack

After a mixed first half, coach Filip Jicha‘s team offered its audience a better second half with some fantastic goals. By far the best THW player was keeper Andreas Wolff. With 15 saves, the national goalkeeper was the guarantee of Kiel’s eighth home win of the season.

Duvnjak extends contract until 2027

But veteran Domagoj Duvnjak received the most applause in the arena. The former world handball player has extended his contract with the record champions by one year until 2027. “Maybe I’ll come here with crutches. But until then I’ll stay another year,” said the 37-year-old at the hall microphone after the game. The Croatian has been playing for the “Zebras” since 2014.

The Schleswig-Holstein team will only continue at the beginning of February after the European Championships in Denmark, Sweden and Norway (January 15th to February 1st, 2026). On February 10th we go to the Rhein-Neckar Löwen (7 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter).

Results, table standings and match days at a glance.

Kiel with problems against a robust HC defense

The first ten minutes in the Kiel Arena were dominated by two solid defenses (4:4). The game then picked up a bit of momentum, with Lukas Zerbe scoring in the fast counterattack to take the first two-goal lead of the game (8:6, 15th).

Overall, the “Zebras” repeatedly got tangled up in the Franconians’ robust defense on offense – and in turn they had the outstanding Wolff to thank on defense for being able to go into the break with a 14:13 lead. The national goalkeeper made nine saves in the first 30 minutes alone.

Wolff continues to dominate – THW improves offensively

And Wolff remained the best Kieler at the beginning of the second half and enabled his team to pull away little by little. Because of the stable defense, the attack gradually became easier: Hendrik Pekeler scored with a sensational spin to make it 19:15 (37th), Nikola Bilyk scored with a nice touch into the left corner to make it 20:15 (39th).

After a good first half, Erlangen simply couldn’t keep up. Eric Johansson, Lukas Laube and Rasmus Ankermann made everything clear with a 3-0 run eight minutes before the end (28:20). Jicha then made a lively change and the game ended with a 5-0 run for the guests. That didn’t change Kiel’s deserved victory – and the “Zebras” had an emotional highlight in store for their fans at the end of the year with Duvnjak’s contract extension.

Hendrik Pekeler scored two seconds before the end to secure a celebrated draw in the last away game of the year for the “Zebras”.