# 2018–19 Damehåndboldligaen

The 2018–19 Damehåndboldligaen (known as HTH GO Ligaen for sponsorship reasons) was the 83rd season of Damehåndboldligaen, Denmark's premier handball league. For the first time ever, the league features 14 teams, expanded from the usual 12 teams, it had been before.
Team Esbjerg the championship after beating Herning-Ikast Håndbold in the final. Odense Håndbold won the regular season. Ringkøbing Håndbold were relegated, as they fininished last in the regular season.

## Team information

| Team. | Town | Arena | Capacity |
| Aarhus United | Aarhus | Ceres Arena Stadionhal | 1.200 |
| Ajax København | København | Bavnehøj-Hallen | 1.000 |
| EH Aalborg | Aalborg | Nørresundby Idrætscenter | 800 |
| Herning-Ikast Håndbold | Ikast | IBF Arena | 2.850 |
| København Håndbold | København | Frederiksberghallen | 1.468 |
| Nykøbing Falster Håndboldklub | Nykøbing Falster Næstved | POWER ARENA Næstved Arena | 1.300 2,500 |
| Odense Håndbold | Odense | Odense Idrætshal | 2.256 |
| Randers HK | Randers | Arena Randers Ulvehøjhallen | 3.000 000 |
| Ringkøbing Håndbold | Ringkøbing | Rofi-Centret | 1.100 |
| Silkeborg-Voel KFUM | Silkeborg | Jysk Arena Voel-Hallen | 3.000 000 |
| Skanderborg Håndbold | Skanderborg | Skanderborg Fælled | 1.700 |
| Team Esbjerg | Esbjerg | Blue Water Dokken | 2.549 |
| Team Tvis Holstebro | Holstebro | Gråkjær Arena | 3.250 |
| Viborg HK | Viborg | Vibocold Arena Viborg | 3.000 |

## Regular season
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Odense Håndbold | 26 | 23 | 1 | 2 | 724 | 585 | +139 | 47 | Championship play-offs + advance to Champions League |
| 2 | Team Esbjerg | 26 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 779 | 603 | +176 | 44 | Championship play-offs |
| 3 | Herning-Ikast Håndbold | 26 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 684 | 581 | +103 | 40 | Championship play-offs |
| 4 | København Håndbold | 26 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 781 | 647 | +134 | 40 | Championship play-offs |
| 5 | Nykøbing Falster Håndbold | 26 | 18 | 1 | 7 | 721 | 630 | +91 | 37 | Championship play-offs |
| 6 | Aarhus United | 26 | 14 | 3 | 9 | 619 | 612 | +7 | 31 | Championship play-offs |
| 7 | Viborg HK | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 674 | 675 | −1 | 26 | Championship play-offs |
| 8 | TTH Holstebro | 26 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 653 | 696 | −43 | 21 | Championship play-offs |
| 9 | Silkeborg-Voel KFUM | 26 | 9 | 3 | 14 | 646 | 668 | −22 | 21 | |
| 10 | Skanderborg Håndbold | 26 | 7 | 2 | 17 | 603 | 688 | −85 | 16 | |
| 11 | Ajax København | 26 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 539 | 639 | −100 | 14 | |
| 12 | Randers HK | 26 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 590 | 681 | −91 | 14 | |
| 13 | EH Aalborg | 26 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 596 | 716 | −120 | 7 | |
| 14 | Ringkøbing Håndbold | 26 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 509 | 697 | −188 | 6 | Relegation play-off |

### Results

| Home \ Away | AAR | AJA | EHA | HIH | KBH | NFH | OHC | RHK | RIN | SIL | SKA | ESB | TTH | VHK |
| Aarhus United | | 22–22 | 28–22 | 18–16 | 20–28 | 24–24 | 25–26 | 27–25 | 30–17 | 25–24 | 19–14 | 23–26 | 25–20 | 26–24 |
| Ajax København | 22–23 | | 22–32 | 23–26 | 19–24 | 20–26 | 20–26 | 17–18 | 17–15 | 15–15 | 23–20 | 22–27 | 24–23 | 21–28 |
| EH Aalborg | 18–21 | 20–24 | | 17–22 | 29–37 | 21–28 | 23–31 | 26–24 | 23–23 | 21–24 | 23–24 | 22–35 | 19–23 | 24–31 |
| Herning-Ikast Håndbold | 32–21 | 29–18 | 32–21 | | 30–29 | 24–22 | 16–18 | 29–13 | 28–21 | 24–21 | 27–24 | 23–26 | 27–26 | 34–21 |
| København Håndbold | 21–27 | 33–20 | 32–27 | 26–29 | | 31–27 | 24–26 | 35–18 | 35–24 | 29–22 | 34–21 | 30–23 | 37–26 | 25–32 |
| Nykøbing Falster Håndbold | 32–21 | 30–23 | 34–13 | 30–25 | 30–40 | | 19–25 | 32–19 | 29–12 | 24–23 | 31–24 | 21–31 | 33–32 | 32–26 |
| Odense Håndbold | 24–27 | 27–17 | 34–27 | 31–23 | 24–19 | 25–24 | | 34–20 | 35–22 | 36–20 | 33–20 | 24–23 | 25–25 | 28–21 |
| Randers HK | 22–23 | 18–22 | 22–21 | 24–26 | 21–26 | 23–31 | 20–28 | | 27–18 | 31–24 | 31–28 | 20–24 | 23–25 | 26–21 |
| Ringkøbing Håndbold | 21–21 | 26–24 | 17–25 | 18–23 | 22–25 | 17–24 | 18–26 | 21–18 | | 20–24 | 23–29 | 24–29 | 20–27 | 19–29 |
| Silkeborg-Voel | 25–24 | 29–23 | 39–27 | 22–25 | 25–33 | 26–27 | 22–29 | 27–26 | 27–15 | | 31–26 | 26–28 | 25–29 | 28–31 |
| Skanderborg Håndbold | 21–19 | 19–26 | 22–21 | 25–25 | 24–32 | 24–27 | 27–28 | 25–24 | 28–22 | 23–27 | | 22–35 | 27–25 | 20–24 |
| Team Esbjerg | 25–28 | 35–14 | 34–25 | 25–23 | 28–37 | 42–27 | 29–18 | 33–22 | 30–12 | 29–22 | 29–25 | | 36–22 | 32–22 |
| TTH Holstebro | 26–28 | 25–22 | 25–23 | 23–37 | 22–26 | 17–25 | 27–34 | 32–26 | 34–20 | 22–22 | 23–23 | 23–36 | | 24–30 |
| Viborg HK | 25–24 | 23–19 | 29–28 | 20–20 | 31–33 | 22–32 | 27–29 | 26–29 | 30–22 | 26–26 | 26–18 | 26–29 | 23–27 | |

## Championship playoffs
### Group 1

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | OHC | KBH | NFH | TTH |
| 1 | Odense Håndbold | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 160 | 146 | +14 | 10 | Advance to semi-finals | — | 19–27 | 26–21 | 29–19 |
| 2 | København Håndbold | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 173 | 166 | +7 | 9 | Advance to semi-finals | 32–40 | — | 29–34 | 31–25 |
| 3 | Nykøbing Falster Håndboldklub | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 152 | 142 | +10 | 8 | | 24–19 | 26–28 | — | 27–25 |
| 4 | TTH Holstebro | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 129 | 160 | −31 | 0 | | 23–27 | 22–26 | 15–20 | — |

### Group 2

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | ESB | AAR | VHK | HIH |
| 1 | Team Esbjerg | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 167 | 146 | +21 | 12 | Advance to semi-finals | — | 37–30 | 29–25 | 28–24 |
| 2 | Aarhus United | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 146 | 164 | −18 | 5 | Advance to semi-finals | 21–26 | — | 24–24 | 23–20 |
| 3 | Viborg HK | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 145 | 159 | −14 | 3 | | 27–26 | 26–29 | — | 21–28 |
| 4 | Herning-Ikast Håndbold | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 145 | 134 | +11 | 7 | | 19–21 | 31–19 | 23–22 | — |

### Semi-finals

| Date | Date | Home team in the 1st match | Home team in the 2nd match | Results | Results |
| 1st match | 2nd match | Home team in the 1st match | Home team in the 2nd match | 1st match | 2nd match |
| 27 April | 1 May | Team Esbjerg | København Håndbold | 30–25 | 23–29 |
| 27 April | 1 May | Odense Håndbold | Herning-Ikast Håndbold | 26–28 | 23–17 |
! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

### 3rd place

| Date | Date | Date | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | Results | Results | Results |
| 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match | Home team in the 1st match & 3rd match | Home team in the 2nd match | 1st match | 2nd match | 3rd match |
| 14 May | 17 May | 24 May | København Håndbold | Odense Håndbold | 22–16 | 35-27 | 24-27 |
! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

### Final

| Date | Date | Date | Home team in the 1st match | Home team in the 2nd match | Results | Results | Results |
| 1st match | 2nd match | 1st match | Home team in the 1st match | Home team in the 2nd match | 3rd match |
| 18 May | 21 May | Team Esbjerg | Herning-Ikast Håndbold | 28–20 | 20-19 |
! Best of three matches. In the case of a tie after the second match, a third match is played. Highest ranking team in the regular season has the home advantage in the first and possible third match.

## Top goalscorers

    As of matches played on 1 May 2019