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Dortmund (dpa) - Heavy blow for the German handball players: A few days before the nomination, three other top performers canceled their participation in the World Cup because of the ongoing Corona crisis.
After Patrick Wiencek and Fabian Wiede, circle runner Hendrik Pekeler, defense specialist Finn Lemke and backcourt player Steffen Weinhold also voluntarily forego the finals from January 13 to 31, 2021 in Egypt.
“In terms of sport, of course, the further cancellations hurt us.
All of them explained their motives to me in a personal conversation.
I understand that, but it also gives a clear picture of our further work, "said national coach Alfred Gislason on Tuesday.
«We will now plan with other players and continue to invest everything in order to achieve the best possible result at the World Cup.
Every loss is also an opportunity. "
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Since Franz Semper and Tim Suton are also injured, the 61-year-old Icelander is missing a total of seven players from the 35-player preliminary World Cup squad.
From the remaining circle, Gislason will name the 20 players he wants to take with him to Egypt next Monday.
«We respect the respective decisions.
But we are also pleased that there has been a lot of positive feedback and we continue to assume that we can provide a strong and success-hungry national team, "said DHB sports director Axel Kromer.
Like Wiencek before, the trio gave private reasons for the World Cup cancellation.
"The general development of the corona pandemic with the renewed hard lockdown worries me as a father of a family, and I cannot leave my wife and daughters alone for more than four weeks during this time," said Pekeler.
The decision was not easy for him, emphasized the 29-year-old from the record champions THW Kiel.
"I'm particularly sorry for Alfred that his first tournament as the national coach of our national team will take place under such difficult circumstances."
His team-mate Weinhold from Kiel made a similar statement.
"I really didn't make this personal decision easy for myself," said the 34-year-old left-hander.
“But since the hard lockdown, taking care of one's own children has not been an easy task, especially in families where both parents work.
In the end, in order to deal responsibly with this situation as a family man, there is no other choice for me than to cancel my participation in the World Cup. "
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After careful consideration, Lemke also decided against participating in the World Cup with a heavy heart, “with a view to my family”.
The 28-year-old from MT Melsungen was infected with the corona virus during the DHB selection in November.
"I wish our national team maximum success and hope that the entire team will return healthy," said Lemke.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 201215-99-704285 / 3
Squad of German handball players
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Schedule of the German handball players
Presidium of the German Handball Federation
Board of the German Handball Federation
DHB notification on further cancellations