The handball players of Thüringer HC already have their backs to the wall in the German league playoffs. The team of Head Coach Herbert Müller lost the first semi-final at main round champions HSG Blomberg-Lippe by 25:31 (10:13) on Saturday. Johanna Reichert was the THC's best scorer with seven goals in front of 1,213 spectators and the team now needs two wins in a row to decide the best-of-three series in its favor. Game two will take place on May 3 in Bad Langensalza.
In the first semi-final, Blomberg immediately pushed the pace and were three goals up after just two-and-a-half minutes. However, THC also quickly found its attacking rhythm and initially kept in touch. However, there was a break in the game from the middle of the first half. The visitors in particular now made avoidable mistakes and rushed shots. Blomberg was three goals ahead at the break.
By the 39th minute, the much more dynamic home side's lead had grown to 20:13. Müller reacted with a timeout and introduced a seventh outfield player in attack. Although the THC developed more penetration again as a result, it was no longer able to threaten Blomberg's commanding success.