Last year, the Berlin team had also won the competition shortly before the Bundesliga opener, when they finished second in the championship after SC Magdeburg. This time, however, they played in front of 10,298 spectators in the SAP Garden as German champions for the first time.
"The Supercup is not the biggest title you can win in world handball", so it is"certainly not overrated", Berlin's sporting director Stefan Kretzschmar had said before the final. However, he should be very satisfied with his team's current form - even if Kiel did put up a bit of a fight in the second half.
Match centre: Füchse Berlin vs. THW Kiel
At first, everything looked like a clear victory for the Foxes. Kiel were able to keep the game open for a quarter of an hour - but then the deficit grew to six goals from 10-10."Fuchse Berlin will continue to play just like last year," said national coach Alfred Gislason at the break on Dyn.
At the same time, Gislason emphasised what was obvious: "Gidsel is of course outstanding, he makes the difference." Indeed, the 26-year-old Danish Olympic and World champion scored seven times in the first half and ended up with eight goals in regulation time.
However, it was still not a walk in the park for the Foxes. The Faroese international Elias Ellefsen á Skipagötu with a total of eight goals and goalkeeper Andreas Wolff (13 saves) kept Kiel in the game.
They reduced the deficit in a flash after the break and took the lead for the first time in the 43rd minute, which they extended to three goals to lead 29-26 with just seven minutes to go. However, THW ran out of steam again towards the end and the game was to be decided from free throws.