THC previously played in the EHF Finals two years ago but lost to Ikast in the semi-finals and ultimately finished fourth. The German side can win the first European trophy in the club’s history in Sunday’s final, which starts at 18:00 CEST.
Earlier on Saturday, Ikast outscored the second German team at the EHF Finals Women 2025, HSG Blomberg-Lippe, 28:18 in the first semi-final. Dijon and Blomberg meet in the third-place match on Sunday at 15:00 CEST.
SEMI-FINALS
Thüringer HC (GER) vs JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball (FRA) 35:29 (21:15)
- the game had a quick-fire start with four goals — evenly shared between the teams — within the opening three minutes
- left back Johanna Reichert then stamped her authority on the match, scoring five times already in the opening 10 minutes
- Dijon initially restored parity after THC went up by three goals (7:4) early on, but THC went ahead quickly again
- THC’s Dinah Eckerle won the battle of the German goalkeepers against Dijon’s Ann-Cathrin Giegerich, who was briefly replaced with Manuella Dos Reis late in the first half
- Dijon played the last 18 minutes of the match without their best scorer, Claire Vautier (six goals), who got a direct red card following her foul against THC’s Csenge Kuczora
- Dijon came closer several times in the second half, but THC did enough to keep a comfortable cushion and not endanger their ticket to the final
- Reichert’s 16 goals are a record for the EHF Finals Women; so far, no player had ever scored more than 11 times in a single match at the season-ending tournament
Dinah Eckerle’s last shout for European glory gets louder
A lot of Thüringer HC’s success comes down to goal-getter Johanna Reichert’s dazzling scoring rate, but the German side boast more strengths than just a near-unstoppable attack. On the other side of the court, goalkeeper Dinah Eckerle shows she still has it all — in the final weeks of her playing career. The former German international, who retired from the national team after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, plans to call it a career altogether at the end of the current season, leaving the EHF Finals Women 2025 in Graz her final opportunity to win a European trophy.
Eckerle has won a string of domestic league and cup titles in Germany with THC and SG BBM Bietigheim (now HB Ludwigsburg) and in Denmark with Team Esbjerg. But a European club title is missing from her list of achievements, though she is doing all she can to change that this weekend. In the semi-final against JDA Bourgogne Dijon Handball, Eckerle impressed with a series of trademark saves that denied the French side the chance to close the gap. Will Eckerle finally lift a European trophy on Sunday and put a glorious finish to her career?
“It means a lot to me, it was also my personal goal to go to the EHF Finals and to have a chance to get the trophy, to bring the trophy to THC," said Eckerle, who started her career as youth player at THC and returned to the club two years ago. "That would be a really nice ending of my career, to give something back. We will do everything to go for it tomorrow.”
