What’s new from the HYLO® Sports family
There have been various exciting sporting moments for our #hyloathletes over the past week. We take a look back at last week’s events and competitions featuring our athletes, teams and clubs.
Season kick-off for triathletes washed out
The planned start of the new triathlon season in Abu Dhabi was cancelled at short notice during to a weather warning, affecting HYLO® Team Saar athletes Lasse Priester and Tim Hellwig. The World Triathlon Championship Series 2024 (WTCS) could not begin as planned on Friday (8 March 2024) in the United Arab Emirates capital. When athletes arrived for the first official cycle route inspection on the Yas Marina Circuit (the Formula 1 route in the desert state) on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m., they were informed that all outdoor events between Friday and Sunday would have to be cancelled.
Tim Hellwig, along with many of the Deutsche Triathlon Union (DTU) national squad, travelled from their four-week season preparation training camp in high-altitude Namibia directly to Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately, the hoped-for status check at the start of the WCTS could not take place, which for many athletes also meant a missed opportunity to meet the qualification criteria for the Olympics. Tim Hellwig has already secured his ticket to Paris, so he can take the cancellation of this opening race in his stride and adjust his season planning accordingly if necessary.
Daniel Jasinski gains top position in European Throwing Cup
Despite adverse conditions, Rio Olympic bronze medallist discus thrower Daniel Jasinski from TV Wattenscheid gained an impressive third place in the individual placings at the European Throwing Cup in Leiria (Portugal) on Saturday (9 March 2024) to round off the winter season. The competition was the first opportunity of the year for German athletics federation (DLV) players to measure up on an international stage, in the disciplines of discus throwing, shot put, hammer throw and javelin. One particular feature of this competition is the fact that alongside the individual events, there is also a team ranking, where the best results from the individual disciplines are converted into points and included in the overall national ranking result. Jasinski’s discus throw of 61.84 metres helped to put the DLV men’s team in second place.
This result is even more fantastic given the difficult conditions before the throwing weekend in Portugal. Even getting to the event was a major challenge, due to a warning strike at German airports: the discus specialist had to delay his flight from Düsseldorf to the following day and change in Amsterdam. The weather gods were also not kind to the athletes. Sunshine and clouds were followed by cool temperatures with heavy rain, hail, thunder, lightning and strong winds, creating conditions that made life difficult for all involved and had a major impact on all decisions.
The 34-year-old discus thrower and army sports promotion group member showed off his routine at the very first attempt and managed to pull off a throw of 61.84 metres despite a slippery throwing circle. He then brought his competition to an end after struggling to gain a steady foothold on the rain-soaked ground, and even fell in the circle, although fortunately without injuring himself. The discus thrower is now heading to the European Championships and the Olympics with a great performance under his belt.
German Giant out in second round in Belgium
From 8 to 10 March 2024, the Oktoberhallen in Wieze (Belgium) hosted the Belgian Darts Open, the first PDC European Tour tournament of the season. Saarland darts pro Gabriel Clemens began the tournament on Friday evening (8 March) with a whitewash against Belgian player Jeroen Caron. The German Giant gained an easy 6:0 win in magnificent style with an average of 101.33, taking him into a second round match on Saturday against Welshman Gerwyn Price.
Unfortunately, Gaga’s tournament then came to an end against the ‘Iceman’: Clemens had to concede a close 4:6 defeat to Price. Despite a strong start by Price and a few mistakes by Clemens, the Saarland player equalised to 3:3 to keep things open. He was also lucky enough to prevent a break to 5:3. However, Price was able to hold his nerve and secured victory in the subsequent legs.
The darts pro from Saarwellingen is heading back into the darts circus in front of a home crowd in Germany next week: he will be competing in the Players Championship 5 and 6 events in Hildesheim on 18 and 19 March.
SVE gain vital points against strong home team Fürth
On Sunday (10 March 2024), SV Elversberg were able to return from their difficult away game against strong home team SpVgg Greuther Fürth with a win under their belt. With a 4:1 win over the previous 2. Fußball-Bundesliga table leaders, coach Horst Steffen’s team managed a turnaround to get back on a winning track after their previous two defeats and took a major step towards retaining their place in the second division. After a close first half, SVE took charge in a wild second half and celebrated what was ultimately a well-earned away win, with Paul Stock earning ‘man of the match’ thanks to a hat trick. More details about the game in our post-match report.
The promoted team from Saarland are now tenth place in the second division table, with 35 points on their ledger. For their next home game on Saturday (16 March), SVE are welcoming second-placed team and promotion favourites Holstein Kiel to the URSAPHARM arena on Kaiserlinde.
We have once again relaunched our betting game for this home match: you can place bets up to two minutes before kick-off (1 p.m.) and win attractive prizes. The betting game can be found here.
Saarlouis Royals in playoffs despite defeat
The final day of play in the 1. Damen-Basketball-Bundesliga (DBBL) main round last weekend still packed a punch. For many teams, it was a deciding game in whether they would be relegated or gain a playoff place. This was definitely true for the Saarlouis Royals’s match against the women of Herner TC: the Saarland players needed a win to secure a playoff place without relying on the results of other matches, and the team from Herne had to win to be in with a chance of staying in the league. The stage was set for an exciting lineup.
The showdown was on Saturday evening (9 March 2024) at the H2k arena in Herne. After a well-balanced first half, HTC gained point after point to ultimately secure a 92:76 home win (Q1: 21:17, Q2: 16:22, Q3: 29:20, Q4: 26:17) and celebrate staying in the 1. DBBL league. Because both Göttingen and Marburg lost their games, HTC safeguarded their place in the league at the last second and will be able to continue playing top-division basketball next season. However, thanks to Wings Leverkusen’s surprising win over Medical Instinct Veilchen Göttingen, the Royals from Saarlouis still secured the eighth playoff place. This assist from Leverkusen means that despite their defeat, the Saarland players will be joining the final round of the German Championships in two weeks’ time. As the eighth-placed team, they will be facing top team from the main round ALBA Berlin in the playoff quarter finals. This will be organised as a best-of-five series. The Berlin team are beginning with a home advantage and have the first two home games before travelling to the Stadtgartenhalle in Saarlouis for game three, and then also game four if the Royals win. If a fifth deciding game is required, it will take place in Berlin.
Before heading to the German Championship playoffs, next weekend the Saarland team first have the final tournament for the 2023/24 season of the DBBL cup. The DBBL CUP TOP4 is taking place in the Stadtgartenhalle in Saarlouis on 16 and 17 March. The two semi-final games will be held on the Saturday, then Sunday will see the battle for third place followed by the final.
Saarlouis Royals are facing Eigner Angels Nördlingen in the first semi-final on Saturday at 3 p.m. The second semi-final will be between ALBA Berlin and TK Hannover Luchse.
Tickets for the DBBL cup TOP4 on 16 and 17 March 2024 in Saarlouis are available from the Saarlouis Royals ticket shop.
Füchse lose top game against Magdeburg
Despite an equally matched game, Füchse Berlin had to admit defeat 31:28 (16:15) to reigning Champions League winners SC Magdeburg in their top LIQUI MOLY Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) match on Sunday (10 March 2024). Despite very vocal support from the Berlin fans who travelled with them, Jaron Siewert’s team were ultimately unable to secure a win in Magdeburg. In front of 6,600 spectators at the GETEC Arena in Magdeburg, Lasse Andersson was the best scorer for Berlin and in the game as a whole, with nine goals. Füchse’s goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljev also clearly won the battle of the goalies with 12 saves.
After a win against Erlangen and in their unimportant final group game of the European cup against Constanta on 5 March, Füchse began the match with plenty of self-confidence and were not overwhelmed by the heated atmosphere in Magdeburg’s Hexenkessel. In a well-matched game, the Berlin team headed into half time just one goal down. In the second half, the capital team remained close on Magdeburg’s heels, although once the lead was increased to two goals they never managed to catch up. Whenever they hoped that the final goal was within reach, mistakes crept into the Berlin team’s attacking play and the home side successfully broke through Füchse‘s defence. SCM remained focused right through to the final whistle and never relinquished victory.
Füchse Berlin still remain at the top of the table before the international cap break after this top game, but only have one point more than Magdeburg on their scorecard with one fewer games.
The Berlin team have an opportunity to get their own back in a month’s time, when the two top teams meet on neutral ground in Cologne for the semi-final of the German handball cup in the REWE Final4 on 13 April. The next federal league game for Füchse will be against Rhein-Neckar Löwen on 21 March.
We are looking forward to upcoming appearances from our #hyloathletes and wish all of our HYLO® partners much luck and success.