13 is not an unlucky number: THW Kiel win the cup in Cologne for the first time thanks to Andreas Wolff

The cheers from the white wall in the LANXESS arena were unstoppable and the players on the bench were already clapping each other off a minute before the final whistle: THW Kiel had qualified for the Lidl Final4 in Cologne for the first time - and the record cup winners extended their winning streak right at the premiere on Sunday: The 28:23 victory over MT Melsungen in the final made THW DHB Cup winners for the 13th time overall and for the first time since 2022, while MT lost a final for the third time after 2021 and 2024. And Kiel's triumph had a name: Andreas Wolff. With 16 saves, the national goalkeeper was the outstanding factor in a goalkeeping duel at world-class level, as his counterpart Nebojsa Simic was only slightly behind him with 13 saved shots.

It was the third cup win in a THW jersey after 2017 and 2019 for the mad Wolff, who was deservedly voted DKB Player of the Lidl Final4 2025, and cup title number five for Patrick Wiencek - and this in the last cup game of his long career. THW coach Filip Jicha is now the sole record holder as a DHB Cup winner: after five titles as a player, one as assistant coach and now two as coach, the Czech has overtaken Christian Zeitz (seven titles) with his eighth win.

Final: THW Kiel vs. MT Melsungen 28:23 (10:9)

When the two best goalkeepers in the DAIKIN Handball Bundesliga meet, you can't expect to concede too many goals. Andreas Wolff (THW) and Nebojsa Simic (MT) showed in the first half why they are at the top of the league in saves. The duel between the goalkeeping giants was tied after 30 minutes: Wolf and Simic had each saved eight shots. So it's no wonder that the 19,750 fans in the sold-out LANXESS arena only saw 19 goals scored in the first 30 minutes.

The final was extremely intense and tough right from the throw-off - quite simply, a battle for every centimetre. The game swung back and forth like the Baltic Sea waves in the Kiel Fjord: THW went ahead (4:2), MT followed suit (4:4), then the Zebras pulled away again (7:4 and 10:6). However, Simic sealed his goal in the final seven minutes of the first half to keep Melsungen back in contention at 9:10 at the break. You could see the Kiel side's respect, as THW had not won its last four games against the club from North Hesse in the league (three defeats, one draw).

Melsungen even took the lead at 12:11, but the advantage did not last too long, as Wolff stood in MT's way several times. Melsungen's Head Coach Roberto Garcia Parrondo called a timeout at 14:17, but Kiel's Swede Eric Johansson was unstoppable. His backcourt hammers - some of which travelled at over 155 kilometres per hour - were unstoppable for Simic. The record cup winners led 21:17 with eleven minutes to go.

And then the Wolff madness really got going: No matter where Melsungen threw from, the THW goalkeeper was on hand - and Kiel's first victory in Cologne after twelve titles in Hamburg was wrapped up at the latest when captain Domagoj Duvnjak scored 26:21. Small consolation for Melsungen: After losing 19:30 to SC Magdeburg in the previous year's final, the club from Northern Hesse put up a strong performance and demanded everything from Kiel.