After SG Wallau-Massenheim had won the first two tournaments in Frankfurt and Hamburg (first in 1994), TBV Lemgo followed in 1995 as the third winner of a Final4. They won their first trophy by a 24:18 after a 11:8 halftime advance against HSV Düsseldorf. Laszlo Mocsai, son of head coach Lajos Mocsai, was the most successful scorer with seven goals in Lemgo's first cup victory.

Two years later, TBV was back in Hamburg, first prevailed against Großwallstadt in the semifinals and then celebrated a 28:23 (14:11) final win over the first and so far only second division team in a Final4 final, HSG Dutenhofen-Münchholzhausen. As the defending champions in the 1997/98 season, they beat SC Magdeburg in the Last 16 and qualified again for the Final4 - but they were eliminated in the semifinals after a 26:30 defeat against the surprise finalist TV Niederwürzbach.

In 1999, TBV made the Hamburg hat-trick perfect, beat TuSem Essen 26:24 in the semifinals, but then had no chance against THW Kiel, which successfully defended their title from the previous year with a clear 28:19 in the final. In 2002, however, Lemgo rejoiced – and for the first time today's coach Florian Kehrmann too. In the semifinals, the long-awaited success against Kiel (34:28) was achieved – and as final opponents SC Magdeburg needed to go through a penalty shoot-out to eliminate Nordhorn the day before, there was a lack of strength in the final: TBV won 25:23 and exuberantly celebrated their third victory in the German Cup.

No one could have guessed that it would take 19 years before they would return to Hamburg. In the meantime, THW Kiel was very often the terminal stop for the Lipperlanders in a wide variety of rounds. But just in the Covid season - the final tournament of 2020 was held in 2021 - the TBV was wide awake and celebrated one of the biggest cup sensations of the past years. After winning against Bergischer HC and Eulen Ludwigshafen in the Last 16 and quarterfinals in 2019, they dueled with THW Kiel again in the semifinals in June 2021. And the Zebras seemed to be the sure winners at the break, leading 18:11, but then Lemgo hit back thanks to the outstanding performance of goalkeeper Finn Zecher, turned the game around and won 29:28 - the TBV fans were just over the moon. Less than 24 hours later, the TBV answered the question of whether this unbelievable race to catch up had cost too much energy with another brilliant performance and defeated MT Melsungen 28:24. Winning the cup for the fourth time, they had caught up with sides such as SG Flensburg-Handewitt and TV Großwallstadt in the all-time list of winners.

But the success was not a flash in the pan: TBV qualified again for the REWE Final4 in 2022 after beating Melsungen again 28:24, this time in the quarter-finals. Almost traditionally, the semi-final duel against Kiel  was drawn - and despite a big fight, Lemgo could not repeat the previous year's sensation and lost 26:28.

Now, at the new location in Cologne's LANXESS arena, it's "Here's to something new" for Florian Kehrmann's team, which is part of a final tournament for the eighth time - after three away wins in the three previous rounds in Bad Schwartau, Dresden and Gummersbach. This time it's not against Kiel, but against the THW conqueror and current German champions SC Magdeburg.

Photo: Klahn