Ladies take the high fives, men finish empty-handed

As the Danish women celebrated their Olympic qualification, the men of AG København were in mourning after losing their Champions League semi-final

The Danish women’s handball team have qualified for the Olympic Games in London this summer after finishing second in their qualification group over the weekend. 

The ladies struggled to beat Tunisia in the first game 28-24, but then thrashed the Dominican Republic 38-21 on Saturday to book their ticket to London. 

 

“It means everything and I am really happy with the result,” coach Jan Pytlick told Ekstra Bladet newspaper. “It is essential for Danish handball that we are in the Olympics – and the hype extends to the club level.”

 

The only blemish came on Sunday as they lost the final game to group winners Russia 20-27. The loss meant that Russia was seeded higher in the Olympic group stage draw on Wednesday evening, meaning that Denmark now face a more difficult path on their quest to win the gold.

 

But while the Danish women’s team booked their place at the games, AG København’s bid to become the first Danish men’s club team to win the Final4 Champions League came abruptly to an end in Cologne on Saturday night.

 

Having beaten the Spanish powerhouses Barcelona in the quarter-finals, AGK were looking to dispatch another Spanish team, Athletico Madrid, on their way to the

final.

and the agony of men. (Photo: Lars Moeller / Scanpic).

But despite leading by three goals at half-time, a second half collapse combined with some suspicious officiating in the final minutes led to the Spaniards triumphing 25-23 and reaching the final. AGK had to settle for the bronze after beating German outfit Füchse Berlin 26-21.

 

Despite the disappointment for the AGK players, one of them did experience some personal success as Mikkel Hansen won the Champions League top scorer title with 98 goals, edging out Macedonia’s Kiril Lazorov by a single goal.

 

”I am happy about winning the top-scorer title, but it’s a huge disappointment that we lost to Athletico,” Hansen told sporten.dk. “But we hope to be back next year and win the final. Naturally, it’s a nice title to win, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates.”

 

AGK owner Jesper Nielsen is satisfied with the season and is confident that they will win the Champions League trophy one day.

 

“We have got to the point where we want to win it and we have played Kiel, Barcelona and Athletico,” Nielsen told Ekstra Bladet newspaper. “If we stay on this level for some years, then we will also have a Champions League title at some point.”

 

German club THW Kiel beat Athetico Madrid 26-21 in the final on Sunday to win the Champions League trophy.

 

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