Spielothek Cup
| Spielothek Cup | |
| Full name | Casino Merkur-Spielothek-Cup |
| abbreviation | Spielo Cup |
| First edition | 1986 |
| Teams | 4th |
| Game mode | Knockout system |
| Title holder |
 TuS N-Lübbecke
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| Record winner |
TuS N-Lübbecke (9)
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| Website | www.spielocup.de |
The Spielothek-Cup (also Spielo-Cup , currently Casino Merkur-Spielothek-Cup , formerly Merkur-Spielothek-Cup ) is a handball invitation tournament that has been held annually since 1986 and is held on a weekend with four male teams participating in the summer. So far 38 handball teams from eleven nations have participated. Ten clubs have won the tournament so far. Permanent participants are TuS N-Lübbecke and GWD Minden as hosts. VfL Hameln also acted as an additional host for the first edition . The Spielothek-Cup , presented as a winner's trophy, was a challenge cup until 1998 . Then it passed into the possession of the team from TBV Lemgo , which was the first team to win it three times. Since then there has been a new cup every year, but its appearance remains the same. With a 25:24 win against HSC 2000 Coburg in the 2019 final, Lübbecke is the current title holder. The top scorer also receives a trophy, which Stephan Just is the only player to have won twice. Namesake and main sponsor of the event is the Casino Merkur-Spielothek the Gauselmann Group .
Hosting / Hosting mode
The first five editions from 1986 to 1990 were played in the " everyone against everyone " mode . The best of the four participating teams was the winner. From 1991 to 1994 as well as from 1996 to 2011 and since 2017 the tournament was and is played with four teams in the knockout system with two semi-finals, the game for third place and the final. In 1995 and from 2013 to 2015 six teams competed in two groups of three teams each. In 1995, the respective group winners and runners-up carried out the semi-finals cross-wise and thus determined the finalists, while the third-placed group directly reached the game for fifth place. From 2013 to 2015, the respective group winners reached the final directly, the runners-up the game for third place and the third group the game for fifth place.
Game days from 1986 to 1990 were Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. From 1991 to 2015 only Fridays and Saturdays and since 2017 have been played on Saturdays and Sundays. During the draw, since 1991, care has been taken to ensure that direct duels between the hosts Lübbecke and Minden (see: Mühlenkreis Derby ) are possible on the final day at the earliest. All games are currently being played, if possible, either in the Merkur Arena in Lübbecke or the Kampa Hall in Minden. Other venues so far have been Hameln , Blomberg and Porta Westfalica, among others . The playing time for all games is currently 2 × 30 minutes. In the event of a tie after the end of regular playing time, there is an extension of 2 × 5 minutes. In the event of a tie after extra time has expired, there is a seven-meter throw.
The year 1987 is special. Since the first five tournaments took place at the beginning of the year, but no date could be found in 1988, two editions were held in 1987 in both January and December. For the sake of clarity, the tournament played in December 1987 was henceforth called the Spielothek-Cup 1988 . Since 1991 it has only been played in summer.
The tournament was suspended four times. 2010 because of the renovation of the Merkur Arena in Lübbecke, 2012 and 2016 because of the Summer Olympics in London and Rio de Janeiro and in 2018 because of a renovation work on the Merkur Arena.
The tournaments at a glance
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Ranking list
The most successful club is the TuS N-Lübbecke , which has won the cup a total of nine times. The team also has the most frequent finals (16). As TuS Nettelstedt they also won the first edition in 1986. Four teams managed to complete each of their previous participations with a tournament victory: TuS Hofweier (1988 and 1989), ČH Bratislava (1990), Wilhelmshavener HV (2007) and KS Vive Kielce (2013) . In the following overview, the clubs are listed under the club name as it was at the time of the last participation.
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1 In 1992 there was a shared third place between TSV GWD Minden and TuS Nettelstedt
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TV presence
Since the THW Kiel and TBV Lemgo were two favorites for the German championship in the 13th edition in 1998 , German sports television (DSF) showed interest in broadcasting the tournament. In addition, with the TuS Nettelstedt and the TSV GWD Minden, two teams completed the field of participants who belonged to the expanded group of championship candidates. The second semi-final between TSV GWD Minden and TBV Lemgo and the final between TuS Nettelstedt and TBV Lemgo are thus the only Spielothek Cup matches in history that have been broadcast live on television.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Reichmann, Marcus: Four instead of six. Spielothek-Cup starts in August . In: Mindener Tageblatt , No. 109, May 11, 2017, p. 37.
- ↑ westfalen-blatt.de (Krusche, Volker): Spielothek-Cup is canceled again. Merkur-Arena is not available due to renovation measures . January 28, 2018, as of August 8, 2018.