“I’m doing a job no one else wants to do”
Patrick Wiencek, captain of THW Kiel
Quelle: Getty Images/Cathrin Mueller
Patrick Wiencek wants to become German handball champion with THW Kiel. The captain has to take a beating for that. He stopped counting his bruises. Conversation about a special position and the derby against Flensburg.
In the fight for the German Handball Championship, a crucial game day is coming up this weekend. Four of the top five clubs will play each other on Sunday. At 4:05 p.m. there will be a duel between the second, Füchse Berlin, and the fifth-placed Rhein-Neckar Löwen. The 108th Schleswig-Holstein Derby is on the program two hours earlier. Leader THW Kiel meets the fourth-placed team SG Flensburg-Handewitt. Kiel’s captain Patrick Wiencek is looking forward to the game.
Ask: Mr. Wiencek, which derby is hotter: Dortmund versus Schalke in football or Kiel versus Flensburg in handball?
Patrick Wiencek: The football derby – and that’s a good thing. The nice thing about handball is that it’s always fair there. We don’t have fan riots. Rags fly on the field, but then everything is immediately forgotten and you high five. It’s the same with the viewers.
Ask: Are you already looking forward to the duels with Johannes Golla?
Wiencek: I always like to play against good players because then you can assert yourself and prove yourself. I know Johannes well from the national team. He is also a great personality off the handball field and very down-to-earth. I personally like him very much.
Ask: After the game against you, Magdeburg’s star Gisli Kristjansson expressed his deepest respect for your tough style of play. Do you take that as a compliment?
Wiencek: When a world-class player says something like that, it makes you happy. There’s a certain toughness to handball, and that’s what my game thrives on. But I never want to hurt anyone. I’ve already adjusted my game and have become calmer in my defensive work. And besides, I’m pocketing a lot.
Ask: How many bruises do you have right now?
Wiencek: I’ve lost count. I have bruises all the time. But I don’t notice them anymore. Handball is a contact sport. At some point you will overcome the pain.
Ask: Their goalkeeper Niklas Landin said pivot would be the very last position he wants to play in handball because you take so much punishment there…
Wiencek: He’s already told me that. I always ask him: How can you voluntarily stand in the goal where the balls are flying around your ears at 130 km/h or even land in your face? That’s just a matter of taste. I take his statement as praise: I do a job that no one else wants to do. A blocked throw or an intercepted ball is just as nice for me as a goal scored.
The Flensburg suffered severe setbacks, eliminated in the cup and European cup
Those: dpa/Marco Wolf
Ask: Do you actually like your nickname Bamm-Bamm, based on the boy with the club from the Flintstones?
Wiencek: I’ve had it for so long that I don’t really care. In the team I have a different nickname: Piet. I prefer to hear that.
Ask: They haven’t played for two weeks and are well rested for the derby against Flensburg, which was played at the weekend and on Tuesday. An advantage?
Wiencek: I don’t believe. There’s always a lot going on in the derby, everyone’s on fire. We were finally able to work on our athletics. That always comes up short over the course of the year. But I would have liked to have skipped the break and taken part in the Cup Final Four. It was the first time in Cologne and we, as the record holders, weren’t there – it hurts.
Ask: Did you watch it on TV?
Wiencek: I’m also a handball fan, and people like to watch events like this. Even though I thought to myself: Oh shit, why aren’t we there?
Ask: Is the game against Flensburg decisive in the fight for the title?
Wiencek: It’s too narrow for that. We only have finals left. But we have it in our own hands. That’s the good thing. If we win all games, we will be champions. We want to start with that against Flensburg.
Ask: Which derby will you never forget?
Wiencek: A year ago we won again in Flensburg after a long time. It was a close game and ended up going up by a goal. A wonderful feeling. Magdeburg was already the champion, but we were able to secure second place and qualify for the Champions League.
The interview was developed for the sports competence center (WELT, SPORT IMAGE, BILD, BILD AM SUNDAY) conducted and first published in SPORT BILD.