What’s new from the HYLO® Sports family
Once again, there was a lot going on in the world of sports last week. Some of our #hyloathletes have also been out and about. We take a look back at the last eight days’ events and competitions featuring our athletes, teams and clubs.
Daniel Jasinski runner up at the German Throwing Championships
On Saturday (25 February 2024), discus thrower Daniel Jasinski (TV Wattenscheid 01) achieved a strong second place at the German Throwing Championships in Halle an der Saale. The three throwing disciplines of javelin, discuss and hammer throw are not included in the German Indoor Championships due to the high, long trajectory of the projectiles. The 34 year old, last year’s winner and bronze medallist at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, secured the silver medal behind Clemens Prüfer with a distance of 64.39m and also qualified for the European Throwing Cup on 9-10 March in Leiria (Portugal), the conclusion and highlight of the short winter season.
After this, the focus will be on preparing for the upcoming summer season and its two highlights, the European Championships in Rome in June and the Olympics in Paris in July/August.
First highlight of the year for the German gymnastics team
The 2024 Turnier der Meister event in Cottbus once again delighted gymnastics fans in the Lausitz Arena this year! From 22 to 25 February 2024, Cottbus became a gymnastics metropolis for the Turnier der Meister. More than 300 athletes from nearly 80 countries put up a strong fight at this world cup for apparatus gymnastics, competing for vital Olympics qualification points. Although the German gymnastics team did not manage to walk away with any medals, all of the athletes selected by the German Gymnastics Association were able to gain experience and ensure perfect preparations for upcoming competitions.
After two long qualifying days, Saturday and Sunday saw the apparatus finals. From a German perspective, all eyes were on the floor, as Milan Hosseini was the only member of the German gymnastics team to reach the apparatus final on Saturday. In the competition between the best eight floor gymnasts, Milan narrowly missed out on the podium by just over three hundredths of a point and secured a remarkable fourth place.
The next highlight for the German gymnastics team is just around the corner: the EnBW DTB Cup is returning on 15 to 17 March. This traditional event in Stuttgart is in its 39th year and offers the gymnasts of the DTB squad their next opportunity to compete with the world elite.
Top-ten position for Team BIKE AID at the Tour du Rwanda
Sunday was the grand finale in Kigali. Saarland’s professional cycling team BIKE AID were at the 16th Tour du Rwanda, Africa’s top cycling event, from 18 to 25 February 2024. This was not the Saarland cyclists’ first year at this tour in the cycling-mad ‘land of a thousand hills’, but it was their first time on the starting line with their newly formed team.
The Continental Team BIKE AID was represented by its riders Antoine Berlin, Vinzent Dorn, Oliver Mattheis, Yoel Habteab and Dawit Yemane. The team as a whole had outstanding spirit and fantastic team unity throughout the Tour. In terms of results, Dawit Yemane’s performance was very pleasing, ultimately finishing as the best African cyclist and earning tenth place in the overall rankings. Oliver Mattheis gained a strong 13th place in the overall rankings, a major improvement over the previous year. Antoine Berlin and Vinzent Dorn worked hard all week performing various tasks for the team, from carrying water, to supporting breakaway attempts, to protecting Yoel and Dawit wherever possible. Hugely talented new team member Yoel Habteab provided some highs and lows for the Tour: after the first four stages, the young Eritrean was at the top of the climb rankings and was even wearing the yellow jersey for the best sprinter. Yoel’s Tour sadly came to an end after the time trial in the fifth stage, as he exceeded the time limit because the team had overlooked some crucial details in the heat of competition. This was a very painful experience for the whole team, but also a learning one. However, overall there is great excitement about the clear potential of every single rider on the team, which makes us look forward to upcoming Tours.
SVE irritated at unnecessary defeat by HSV
On Sunday (25 February 2024), SV Elversberg had to accept a close 1:0 defeat after their match on the 23rd day of play in the 2. Fußball-Bundeliga at the Hamburger Volksparkstadion. At the debut appearance of HSV’s new coach Steffen Baumgart, the Saarland team suffered what Horst Steffen described as a ‘not undeserved’ loss where Elversberg could have done better. However, the injury-hit Elversberg were not able to tap their full potential and gave their opponents lots of easy opportunities due to imprecise play and errors. The SVE players and coach also sounded dissatisfied after the game. More details in our post-match report.
Without wanting to gloss over the defeat, these reactions also show the newly promoted team’s growing self-confidence and aspirations to do more than just keep up with the big names in Germany’s second highest division.
With tenth place in the table, ten points above the first relegation spot, SVE have established a good position in the safety of the 2. Liga midtable and will have an opportunity to demonstrate their full potential once again on Sunday (3 March, 1:30 p.m.) in front of a home crowd at the URSAPHARM arena against Mitaufsteiger SV Wehen.
We have once again relaunched our betting game for this home match: you can place bets up to two minutes before kick-off and win attractive prizes. The betting game can be found here.
Victory and defeat for BC Bischmisheim in double header
The Badminton-Bundesliga is heading into the decisive matches before the end of the main round. 1. BC Saarbrücken-Bischmisheim team had to travel twice last weekend for the 15th and 16th days of play. The double-header initially took the Saarland team to Bergisch Gladbach in NRW and then to Bad Vilbel in Hessen.
In the first match on the Saturday (24 February 2024), BCB gained a magnificent straight 7:0 win over TV Refrath to take the maximum number of points on their onward journey. In the game between the reigning, eleven-time German champions from Saarbrücken and the currently sixteenth-placed team from Refrath, the Saarland players dropped just three sets across the seven matches. Only Ruben Jille and Marvin Datko were taken to five sets in their doubles match, whilst Stine Küspert and Marvin Seidel dropped a set in their mixed match. Manager Peter Käsbauer’s team were able to travel onwards contentedly to their next match the following day.
On Sunday (25 February 2024), BC Bischmisheim then faced current second-placed team SV Fun-Ball Dortelweil, joint favourites for the championship, on the sixteenth day of play. After this game, the Saarland players had less to be happy about than the previous day: the Hesse team won 6:1, and with 34 points, confirmed their position above BCB in the table, who sit in third place with 30 points.
BCB have already secured a playoff place before the last two days of the main round begin: the home double-header on 16-17 March will decide whether the Bischmisheim team then continue their battle for the championship as third in the table with the quarter-final playoff against the sixth-placed team, or whether a little support sees them qualify directly for the final four semi-finals. To achieve this, BCB would have to gain clear home wins in their matches against current league leader and last year’s finalist 1. BC Wipperfeld and then the following day against SC Union 08 Lüdinghausen.
Royals lose to ALBA Berlin
The surprise failed to materialise: Saarlouis Royals lost their Damen Basketball-Bundesliga away game against ALBA Berlin 85:68 (22:18, 25:20, 19:14, 19:16) on Saturday (24 February 2024). As in the first leg, the Saarland basketball players were unable to gain a foothold against the title favourites and current second-placed team from the federal capital. After the game, the Royals’s head coach Dragana Svitlica ungrudgingly offered her congratulations to ALBA, who ‘quite simply played better’. The Saarlouis coach promises to work on various things with the team over the remaining match days in order to improve their focus. The Saarlouis players are then hoping to create a stir against the top team from Berlin in a potential final for the German Cup TOP4.
With two days of play remaining before the end of the Bundesliga main round, the Royals are in eighth place, which would give them entry to the German Championship playoffs. Before the season’s main round ends for the Saarlouis team with the 22nd day of play on 9 March, on Sunday (3 March) they have an opportunity to secure qualification for the playoff games all on their own, by beating the Aigner Angels from Nördlingen in front of a home crowd at the Stadtgartenhalle.
proWIN Volleys – two games, one crucial win
During their double-header at the weekend, TV Holz proWIN Volleys were able to gain a vital win over a direct competitor in their campaign to remain in the league. In the 2. Volleyball-Bundesliga Frauen Süd home game on Saturday (24 February 2024) in front of a home crowd in the Multifunktionshalle am Sportcampus Saar in Saarbrücken, the Saarland players were able to defeat TSV TB München 3:1 (25:13, 20:25, 27:25, 25:17). This put the Holz women in tenth place in the table, a vital step towards their campaign to remain in the league. The best player and Volleys’ MVP was Devin Corah.
The second home game for proWIN Volleys on Sunday (25 February 2024) was sadly less successful for head coach Sergej Danilov’s players: the Holz volleyball players suffered a 3:1 defeat (23:25, 25:20, 23:25, 21:25) to seventh-placed team VC Wiesbaden II. Neither team gave anything away in what was a spirited game from start to finish. After the Volleys and the Wiesbaden team both managed to secure a set each, the visiting team suffered no more losses, meaning that the Holz volleyball players ultimately had to accept a 1:3 defeat.
The Saarland team’s conclusion regarding the weekend’s double-header: ‘We fought well and achieved our minimum target for the weekend’. The team now has three weeks without a match, before continuing with their next double-header in Saarbrücken (16 and 17 March).
First European cup defeat for Füchse and a point in Flensburg
On Tuesday evening (20 February 2024), Füchse Berlin welcomed top Portuguese team Sporting CP from Lisbon for the EHF European League. Füchse suffered a bitter home defeat against their closest rivals for the number one spot in the main round. This is the first EHF European League defeat of the season for the capital club. The final score in Max-Schmeling-Halle against their guests from Lisbon was 31:32 (19:13), with Mathias Gidsel the Berlin team’s top thrower with eight goals. Despite a comfortable half-time lead, Füchse did not manage to secure the home win and claim the top spot in the table.
Füchse have the second leg against Sporting CP today, Tuesday evening (27 February, 8:45 p.m.). A win in this direct face-off would secure a place in the quarter-finals: the top team in the main round leapfrogs the playoffs to qualify directly for a quarter-final spot. The defending champions from Berlin will be seeking to do just that today.
Between the first and second legs for the European League, on Sunday (25 February 2024) the handball players from Berlin were hosted by third-placed team SG Flensburg-Handewitt in the battle to head the LIQUI MOLY Handball-Bundesliga league. In the rearranged match from the twelfth day of play, just under two and half weeks ago, Füchse were able to celebrate a 32:31 home win. On Sunday, the two rivals in the top HBL game drew 31:31 (17:17). At the away game in the Campushalle, Mathias Gidsel’s nine goals once again made him the top goalscorer for Füchse, who only equalised at the final whistle. It was a game where the momentum was constantly changing, and the outcome was only decided in the final seconds. There were nine seconds remaining on the clock when Füchse managed to turn a 30:31 deficit into a draw. Lasse Andersson’s goal came just in time to seal the points, and the Berlin team remains at the top of the table.
After today’s EHF European League second leg game in Lisbon, on Sunday (3 March) Füchse are hosting HC Erlangen for their next federal league match.
We are looking forward to upcoming appearances from our #hyloathletes and wish all of our HYLO® partners much luck and success.