TV Großwallstadt, last season as table 17. just above the line, i.e. almost relegated, experienced a breakthrough in the summer. With Saavas Saavas (ASV Hamm-Westfalen) and Tom Jansen (VfL Gummersbach), the two most successful goalscorers said goodbye to the Bundesliga. “With Kammlodt and Wullenweber they got two very good handball players. They have a few more from the class,” describes Eulen’s coach Michel Abt, looking at Finn Wullenweber, who comes from HSV Hamburg, and Adrian Kammlodt, also 1, 96 , who was previously under contract with Aue, has special team qualities. Both enrich the backcourt, where the former Ferndorfer Simon Strakeljahn has found his place as an intermediary. “He’s good,” said Abt, also praising goalkeeper Petros Boukovinas from AEK Athens.
“Großwallstadt are a little surprise. They started really well but also scored 35 goals in each of their last two games,” says coach Abt, looking back on the Großwallstadt side’s 30:35 in Potsdam and 34:35 in TVG’s home defeat against Hagen. Igor Vori (42) replaced Maik Handschke as coach at the start of the season in Großwallstadt. With 246 caps, Vori is the record number in the Croatian national team with extensive experience, including RK Zagreb, FC Barcelona and Paris St. Germain. Defense specialist Vori played for HSV Hamburg for four years and was reactivated as an emergency assistant for three months by Füchsen Berlin in March 2022. The Croatian has scored 442 goals in 140 Bundesliga appearances. “Vori, he’s a little volcano. He creates a lot of atmosphere in Großwallstadt, he’s very emotional. He has confidence in a 5-1 defense and with his style he can definitely bring a lot of professionalism to Großwallstadt,” says Michel Abt.
The Owls recently celebrated a surprisingly clear away win against HC Elbflorenz 2006 in Dresden with 29:23 (17:14). “One is annoyed that things have tightened up again. This is due to the assessment of chances,” explains the coach, explaining how it happened that after the lead of 13:5, the score was now just under 15 :13. After the four-goal break, nothing happened – the Owls won by six. Abt: “Then we managed as an expert team and made the important saves at the right time.”
“If someone had told us in advance that we would win in Dresden by a margin of six goals, we would all have been happy to sign him,” said Sergey Gorpishin, who was brought on after Christian Klimek’s injury. “It’s good that he’s there. He gives Max Haider recovery phases and thus also has his share of victories,” says Michel Abt in praise of the circular racer, who has already made a short guest appearance in Ludwigshafen at the end of 2020.
When his father came to TSG Friesenheim as a professional in 2003, Sergey was only six years old and attended kindergarten at Ludwigshafen’s Ebertpark. “I still have a photo when my dad picked me up from kindergarten,” Sergey says with a smile. The dad – this is Vyacheslav Gorpishin. The two-meter man embodied world class in his prime, played 270 times in the national team, won Olympic gold with the Russian team in 1992 and 2000, and Olympic silver in 1994. The zone player defender, who played in Germany together with TSG for HC Erlangen, SG Leutershauen, Eintracht Hildesheim and HF Springe, became vice world champion with Russia in 1999. At Eulen’s last home game against Hagen, Sergey’s parents and his girlfriend, who studies in Halle an der Saale, were at the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle. “They were thrilled with the vibe, the vibe in the hall. My dad said it’s great, it’s still as familiar as it was then,” says Sergey, whose girlfriend is part of the team and interacts with other women and friends players immediately felt at ease after the home win. “Here you can see that you can work professionally, and there is also human harmony,” enthuses Sergey Gorpishin about the great atmosphere.
“I’m super happy. I’m well integrated into the team and have the feeling that I can help out. It’s going well, but I would have liked to spare us the defeat in Coburg,” said Sergey Gorpishin, who made his debut in the Potsdam draw. Arriving only after training, with no squad training since he left CSKA Moscow in May, the pivot admits he still needs to work on improving his physique. “It’s been a bit of a crash course to adjust from now on, like Remmlinger plays, like Eisel. It takes time, but he’s getting better and better,” says the two-meter hoop runner, who got the number 15 from his father he inherited. “It’s also about getting into better communication in the game,” says the 25-year-old. It’s amazing that he now knows how to lead aloud in the inner block during training. Now it’s time to successfully solve the tasks against TV Großwallstadt. “We have the means to be successful against any opponent,” says Gorpishin, who gets along “very well” with fellow circle runner Max Haider. “Max also picked me up at the train station when I came to test training,” said Erlangen-born Gorpishin, emphasizing the good relationship with the captain.
Those: Ludwigshafen owls / Photo: travel
