Laura Kuske: "As defending champions, you’re under pressure"

“I couldn’t travel with the team because I still had an exam on Friday morning, so I travelled to Graz on my own. Even though the sporting outcome wasn’t great, I’ll never forget this tournament — my first major one ever," she remembers.

The EHF European League matches in Graz also marked Kuske’s temporary departure from Thüringer HC at the time. To gain match practice, she moved to Buxtehuder SV for two years. In the summer of 2025, she returned, and although she was still playing in Buxtehude, she followed Thüringer HC’s matches at the 2025 EHF Finals in Graz online.

“What the team — and of course, Johanna Reichert in particular — had achieved in the final back then was incredible. I just thought to myself: 'you’re returning to this fantastic club, wow!'” Thüringer HC became the second German club after SG BBM Bietigheim to win the trophy, beating Dijon in the semi-final and then Ikast in the final.

With the return of the Bavaria-born Kuske, who says "Thuringia is my home", THC embarked on their mission to defend the European League title. The start of the season was anything but easy.

"We really were in a killer group, and we also showed some poor performances," Kuske recalls. Against Motherson Mosonmagyarovari KC, Larvik and CS Minaur Baia Mare, anything was still possible for the defending champions on the final matchday, from an early elimination to winning the group. In the end, THC celebrated first place.

"Before the start, many experts had tipped other teams as favourites rather than us, so I was really happy that we managed it," says Kuske.

In the quarter-finals, they faced Nykøbing Falster Håndbold from Denmark — a club that, like THC, competed in the EHF Finals 2023.

"We knew it would be a very close affair, so we were glad we’d laid a solid foundation with the 31:27 away win in the first leg. But nothing was decided yet. In the end, our lead was enough," says Kuske.

Those two wins marked another step towards the title by securing a place at the EHF Finals Dijon métropole.

"Of course, we’re highly motivated now, because no team has ever successfully defended their title in the European League. As defending champions, you’re under particular pressure, but when you’re at a final tournament, you want to win it," says Kuske.

As in the 2023 semi-final, the 2025 final and the 2026 quarter-final, Thüringer HC will face a Danish side again in the semi-final in Dijon: three-time EHF Champions League winners Viborg HK.

"They’re an incredibly strong opponent; they play fast-paced handball, a typical Danish style. This squad has a lot of potential," says Kuske, who was not surprised that Viborg knocked out the big favourites, CS Rapid Bucuresti, in the quarter-finals.

Nevertheless, Kuske is travelling to Dijon brimming with confidence.

"We showed last year that we can win the title. We know how to do it. If we manage to play to our full potential, we can hold our own against anyone – and we’ve also shown this season that you should never write us off, even when we’re trailing by a significant margin. We always come back."

Last season’s standout player — the overall top scorer and MVP of the final tournament — was the Austrian Johanna Reichert, who is once again the European League’s top scorer in the 2025/26 season with 98 goals to date. The EHF Finals Dijon métropole will be special for her, as after this season, Reichert is leaving THC to join Romanian Champions League quarter-finalists Gloria Bistrita.

She is one of eight departures from THC, including key players such as Nathalie Hendrikse, Anika Niederwieser (both retiring) and Csenge Kuczora (joining CSM Bucuresti).

"Of course, we want to give everyone a great farewell with a title in Dijon," said Kuske, who puts the hosts as slight favourites in the second semi-final between Dijon and MOL Esztergom due to home advantage, adding: "Dijon certainly have a score to settle after last year’s semi-final defeat."

Kuske’s first season back at THC was outstanding. In her very first official match, she won the German super cup, qualified for the final tournament of the German cup and the semi-finals of the German championship — but her personal highlight came in the EHF EURO 2026 qualifiers, as on 8 April, she made her debut for the German national team in a 35-28 away win in Skopje against North Macedonia.

"It was an overwhelming feeling. I already had a few tears in my eyes during the national anthem — it was just incredible."

Now the 24-year-old is dreaming of her first international title at club level.

Photos © Christian Heilwagen; BetaMy Foto