1. VfL Potsdam started the first Bundesliga season in the club’s history with a defeat. The handball players, led by coach Emir Kurtagic, lost narrowly 26:28 (11:12) to fellow promoted team SG BBM Bietigheim. Potsdam’s best scorer was Maxim Orlov with six goals.
In the well-filled arena at the airship port with 1,535 seats, VfL was able to take advantage of the tailwind from the stands in the early stages. Left winger Nils Fuhrmann scored the first Bundesliga goal, and captain Elias Kofler then increased the lead to 2:0. As the game progressed, however, the guests from Swabia also found their way into the game better and were able to make the match more even. After just over 17 minutes, both sides had scored five goals.
Suspense until the end
Thanks to the good support of goalkeeper Martin Tomovski, Potsdam took a 9:5 lead by the 23rd minute, but numerous technical errors meant that Bietigheim turned the game around again and made it 11:12 at halftime.
The second half remained exciting. Potsdam continued to lose ground and fell behind 12:16 in the 35th minute, but after three quarters of an hour the scoreboard showed a 19:19 draw. It was only in the last few minutes that Bietigheim was able to win the duel.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240908-930-226813/1
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