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Frankfurt is just one win away for the 16 sides contesting the Bundesliga’s indoor quarter-finals following the high octane women’s and men’s group stages with all hoping to book their tickey this weekend to the Süwag Energie Arena on February 7th and 8th.
In the women’s competition, EHL-qualified sides Mannheimer HC and Harvestehuder THC are both in the mix with the former playing Lichterfelde while HTHC are up against Düsseldorf.
Interestingly, the final eight line-up exactly matches the quarterfinal line-up from the 2015/16 season when MHC won the championship. Should the Mannheim women repeat this feat, they would complete a hat trick as MHC enters the title defense campaign as the champions of 2024 and 2025.
They topped the southern division to set up their date with the side from Berlin, runners-up in the east and are looking to get the better of Mannheim for first time in what is their fourth quarter-final meeting.
Their closest encounter was in 2010, ending 4-4 and losing 1-2 in a shoot-out while the most decisive defeat came in 2007 with a 4-14 loss.
The current quarterfinal record between Düsseldorfer HC and Harvestehuder THC stands at 2-0. The Rhinelanders have won both narrowly (1-0 in the 2015/16 season) and decisively (12-4 in the 2018/19 season) against their Hamburg opponents. On Saturday (2 p.m.), the two teams will meet again in Düsseldorf for the third time with HTHC aiming to reach the Final Four for the first time since 2020; DHC has been a regular participant for a decade.
In the other quarter-finals, Der Club an der Alster will play against Rot-Weiss Köln and Berliner HC face Münchner SC.
On the men’s side, western table-toppers Crefelder HTC have home advantage only on paper against UHC Hamburg as they have had to relocate from their usual hall to one in Mönchengladbach. Last year, CHTC won their quarterfinal 12-6 against Zehlendorfer Wespen and ultimately became runners-up.
Reigning champions Harvestehuder THC, as winners of the North group, will face West group runners-up HTC Uhlenhorst Mülheim on Saturday; Zehlendorfer Wespen meet Mannheimer HC and TSV Mannheim are up against TC Blau-Weiss Berlin in the other quarter-finals.
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