In the second part of the series about the four quarter-final pairings, everything revolves around the duel between two Bundesliga dinosaurs - which, believe it or not, are facing for the first time in the long history of the German Handball Cup: On 4 February (19:00 CET), VfL Gummersbach will host TBV Lemgo. The two veterans of the league have clashed 74 times already, including even three times in the European Cup - but never in the German Cup. In the current LIQUI MOLY HBL season, newly promoted team Gummersbach won 30:26 in Lemgo, and VfL also celebrated victories in five of their last six home games.

With five titles (all won between 1977 and 1985), VfL Gummersbach is the second most successful club in the history of the German Cup behind THW Kiel (12), while TBV Lemgo is fifth in the all-time table with four cup victories. There were 20 years between the penultimate success of Lemgo and that “Miracle of Hamburg” in 2021, when TBV first beat THW Kiel in the semifinals and then MT Melsungen in the final of the REWE Final4.

Speaking of Kiel: TBV and THW met each other almost in every cup season, and it is a law that Lemgo only can win the cup if they have beaten Kiel beforehand, as in the semi-finals in 1995, 2002 and 2020 or in the round of 16 in 1997. Because they faced the record cup winners so often, Lemgo only made it to Hamburg three times in addition to the four victorious participations: In 1998 they lost the semi-finals against Niederwürzbach, in 1999 TBV made it into the final, but lost it - of course - against THW Kiel. And in the previous year, THW again meant the final stop in the semi-finals.

VfL Gummersbach was only part of the event in Hamburg twice: in 2009, they defeated HSV Hamburg in the semifinals but then lost the final against Kiel, a year later Gummersbach lost the semi-final against Rhein-Neckar Löwen and then also the bronze final against Nettelstedt.

The special thing about this purely North Rhine-Westphalian cup quarter-final duel: both coaches are already German cup winners: Lemgo’s Florian Kehrmann as a player in 2002 and as a coach in 2020 with TBV, VfL coach Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson twice as a player. First in 2013 with THW Kiel, then in 2018 with the Rhein-Neckar Löwen, which made it onto the podium for the first time in their tenth attempt in Hamburg.

One thing is obvious: the winner of this duel, which makes it to the REWE Final4 in the LANXESS arena in Cologne, will have a huge crowd of fans to accompany them. It would almost be a home game for Gummersbach, after all, Cologne-Deutz is "around the corner" and VfL has already played many games in the LANXESS arena, including the very first handball game in Germany's biggest multi-functional arena, against THW Kiel. And from Lemgo you can quickly reach the "temple of handball" via the motorways A2, A1 and A3. In the past 2021/22 season, Gummersbach failed as a second division team in the quarter-final at HC Erlangen.

Schedule for the German Cup quarter-finals:

Saturday 4th February 2023:

18:00 CET: SG Flensburg-Handewitt vs. HSG Wetzlar (live on Sportdeutschland.tv)
18:30 CET: TSV Hannover-Burgdorf vs. Rhein-Neckar Löwen (live on Sportdeutschland.tv)
19:00 CET: VfL Gummersbach vs. TBV Lemgo Lippe (live on Sportdeutschland.tv)

Sunday 5 February 2023:

15:00 CET: THW Kiel vs. SC Magdeburg (in Hamburg. live on Sky)

The draw for the semi-finals, which will take place in Cologne on 8 February and will be broadcast on the LIQUI MOLY HBL Facebook and YouTube channels.

The REWE Final4 2023 for the German Cup will take place on 15/16 April for the first time in the LANXESS arena Cologne. Traditionally, the two semi-finals are on the agenda on Saturday. On Sunday, fans can expect the match for 3rd place and then the final of the REWE Final4 2023.
Tickets for the REWE Final4 are available at: rewefinal4.de

Photo: Wieking