Several Olympic gold medalists could grace Sugden Road for the ABN AMRO EHL Men’s KO16 following the Netherlands’ men’s run to the top step of the podium in Paris.
HC Rotterdam’s Justen Blok, Thijs van Dam, Tjep Hoedemakers, Steijn van Heijningen and Derk Meijer along with HC Bloemendaal’s Jorrit Croon, Floris Wortelboer and the Den Bosch-bound Thierry Brinkman were all part of the Oranje’s 19-strong panel.
They prevailed in a thrilling final in a shoot-out against Germany for whom Hamburger Polo Club’s Matthias Müller along with Mannheimer HC trio Teo Hinrichs, Gonzalo Peillat and Justus Weigand.
Bloemendaal begin their EHL campaign on Thursday, October 3rd against Real Club de Polo after Mannheim face AHTC Wien on the opening day of the competition.
Rotterdam after up against TJ Plzen Litice and Hamburger Polo Club face SV Arminen on Saturday, October 5th.
They form a big cohort of Olympic medalists who will play in this season’s competition.
Men’s FINAL8 side SV Kampong were represented by Lars Balk, Jonas de Geus, Duco Telgenkamp, Derck de Vilder and Jip Janssen in Paris.
Of the Women’s FINAL12 clubs, Den Bosch had a huge representation in the Dutch women’s line-up including Joosje Burg, Rosa Fernig, Josine Koning, Sanne Koolen, Frédérique Matla, Laura Nunnink and Pien Sanders.
From SCHC, Pien Dicke, Yibbi Jansen, Marleen Jochems (moving from Hurley), Renée van Laarhoven, Lisa Post and Xan de Waard all took the laurels.
