Euro Hockey League

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Euro Hockey League January 1, 1970

EHL: The ABN AMRO EHL FINALS carnival begins on Wednesday, April 16 in HC ’s-Hertogenbosch with four women’s FINAL12 knock-out battles. This year, EHL Women has expanded from eight teams to 12 with an extra team from Spain and Belgium added to the qualifiers list along with a team from Ukraine and Czechia. They will all compete in this newly introduced first phase of the competition, hoping to make it through to the FINAL8 where host club Den Bosch, Düsseldorfer HC, Gantoise and Real Club de Polo await. Here’s what you need to know about the match-ups to look forward to on the opening day! *** Match 01: Slavia Prague (Czechia) v Surbiton (England) – 12.30 CET Czechia’s history makers, the club was the first club from the country to play in EHL Men in 2022 and they are now the first women’s club to achieve the same feat. It will be the club’s first time playing in the top division since the old EuroHockey Club Cup in 2002 and a first return to Den Bosch since 1999 when they ended in seventh place. But they have been on a steady incline in recent years, winning the Challenge I in both 2022 and 2023 before earning a sixth place finish in the Trophy a year ago in Hamburg. Surbiton – this week’s opponents in the FINAL12 (Wednesday, 12.30 CET) – also played in that event and it showed Slavia they are narrowing the gap. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Surbiton are looking to negotiate their way to the FINAL4 for the first time having picked up fifth and seventh place rankings in their most recent appearances in EHL Women. They do so with something of a new squad this season with stars like Hannah Martin, Amy Costello, Sabbie Heesh and Leah Wilkinson moving on with New Zealand and Ellie Mackenzie coming in. The latter has been a rich source of goals this season along with the resurgent Darcy Bourne after some tough times with injury – she has 13 goals to her name. They will be key to their chances along with Olympic gold medalist Giselle Ansley, Sophie Hamilton, Izzy Petter and Holly Payne. Match 02: Club de Campo de Madrid (Spain) v Braxgata (Belgium) – 14.45 CET Two-time EHL Women’s finalists, Club de Campo are the one ever-present side since this format came into being in 2021 and they are hoping to keep up their proud record against newcomers Braxgata. The Spanish runners-up from last term come into the event top of their domestic league but did miss out on the Copa de la Reina to surprise package Club Egara. Once again, they have a stylish panel packed with top level experience – Maria Lopez, Bea Perez, Candela Mejias, Belen Iglesias, twins Laura and Sara Barrios and Alejandra Torres-Quevedo are all class performers. They have also added another set of twins to their line-up from last season’s champions, Real Club de Polo, Florencia and Constanza Amundson. Guadalupe Fernandez Lacort joined from East Grinstead with whom she played in the EHL last year. For Brax, they are making their EHL debut having finished as runners-up in the Belgian championship last season. It is their fourth European campaign since 2018 having won gold twice at Club Challenge I level and then taking bronze in 2021 in Trophy I in Lille. As such, there is plenty of Euro club knowledge in a variety of formats. The hugely experienced Louise Versavel returned to the club this season after a spell in the Hoofdklasse with Tilburg. She joins a number of Red Panthers like goalkeeper Elena Stogiu, Judith Vandermeiren, Lien Hillewaert, Camille Belis and Stephanie Vanden Borre (who played in the EHL with Gantoise) as well as ex-Railway Union twins Niamh and Michelle Carey. The side will be coached for the last time this season by Darran Bisley before he links up with Australia’s women with Xavier Reckinger taking on the role for the rest of the season. Match 03: Mannheimer HC (Germany) v MSC Sumchanka (Ukraine) – 17.00 CET A fascinating rematch of sorts, MSC Sumchanka will hope they can produce some of the magic that saw them win the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup in February in Siauliai, a first top tier success ever for a Ukrainian side. En route, they beat their FINAL12 opponents Mannheimer HC. While this is a debut in the EHL, the side have huge knowledge of European competition with the squad playing together as a group for many years. For the likes of Kateryna Shokalenko and captain Yenheniia Moroz, they are over a decade on the road with the side. Striker Karyna Leonova is one to watch along with the growing influence of Anastasiia Shyshyna and Kateryna Popova. Mannheim, Germany, October 20: During the 1. Bundesliga fieldhockey match between TSV Mannheim and Mannheimer HC on October 20, 2024 at Hans-Reschke Ufer in Mannheim, Germany. (Photo by Dirk Markgraf / www.265-images.com) *** Local caption *** For Mannheim, they will be looking to back up their super run in 2024 when they reached the EHL Women’s GRAND FINAL, just missing out at the hands of AH&BC Amsterdam. Since then, they backed up that success with a runners-up position in Germany and then won their national indoor championship. Their panel is a strong one with Sonja Zimmerman adding a dynamic midfield presence; she rejoined the club last summer from Amsterdam. She joins a strong panel with a strong Argentine influence with Lucina von der Heyde and Agustina Habif in the line-up. Her sister Florencia played last year before she found out she was pregnant with her first child which has since arrived and she has returned to the first team. Stine Kurz is their other German international while Lucia Jimenez and Clara Badia-Bogner are Spanish national team players. Fiona Felber is the Austrian captain from the side which took silver at the Indoor World Cup in February. They come into the EHL on a run of 14 successive league wins, dating back to September. Match 04: Railway Union (Ireland) v SCHC (Netherlands) Railway Union will play in their first Euro Hockey League event having won Ireland’s EY Champions Trophy last season with the very last touch of the campaign. Róisín Upton scored a last minute penalty stroke to defeat Loreto in the final and win the title and land this place in the FINAL12. She is among a number of internationals in the side along with Katie Mullan with whom she won a World Cup silver medal in 2018 in London. They are joined by newly elected Irish captain Sarah Hawkshaw and indoor internationals like sisters Orla and Sarah Patton, Lily Lloyd and goalkeeper Emma Maloney. They also have named the vastly experienced Emma Lee (née Smyth). She is one month shy of her 40th birthday and played in the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup back in 2014 when they finished in seventh place in Den Bosch. The Dubliners play SCHC who are back for a third successive EHL Women’s competition and looking to breakthrough into the final for the first time since the competition was introduced. From their panel, Yibbi Jansen was 2024’s icon, winning the FIH Player of the Year following her gold medal winning performances in Paris while Xan de Waard was also up on the shortlist for that nomination. Renee van Laarhoven, Lisa Post and Pien Dicke also formed vital elements of their Olympic success. Last year, they took bronze in the EHL with wins over Gantoise and Junior FC but a FINAL4 defeat to AH&BC Amsterdam followed a 2023 exit at the hands of HC ’s-Hertogenbosch in the FINAL8  a year earlier. They have previously been queens of Europe, winning the fore-runner to this event – the EuroHockey Club Champions Cup in 2015. The links between this generation and that one, though, are now limited to Femke Richardson who – as an 18-year-old – was part of the SCHC squad that year. It will be their second European campaign of the season after their young stars travelled to Šiauliai in Lithuania for the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup where they ended in silver medal position.

The ABN AMRO EHL FINALS carnival begins on Wednesday, April 16 in HC ’s-Hertogenbosch with four women’s FINAL12 knock-out battles. This year, EHL Women has…

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Euro Hockey League January 1, 1970

EHL: The ABN AMRO EHL Men’s FINAL8 takes on the now traditional quarter-final knock-out format with eight of Europe’s best sides battling it out for glory at HC ’s-Hertogenbosch. It is a line-up packed with two former champions, four former GRAND FINALISTS while seven of the sides have won medals in the world’s best club competition. BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE It begins on Thursday evening when 2016 winners SV Kampong face 2022 bronze medalists Surbiton (17.15 CET) before six-time champions Bloemendaal meet 2011 runners-up Club de Campo (19.30 CET). On Friday, it’s the Belgian derby between Royal Léopold against Gantoise (15.30 CET) before Old Georgians – bronze winners last year – take on HC Rotterdam (17.45 CET). Here’s a closer look at the upcoming rivalries: Match 01: SV Kampong v Surbiton – Thursday, 17.15 CET The 2016 champions are looking to land their second title in the EHL having come agonisingly close last year when they finished as runners-up to Pinoké with just a single goal settling the tie. They won the Dutch championship last season with a 4-3 win over HC Rotterdam in the final and they compete this season with a relatively settled side The side has plenty of international talent with Lars Balk and Jip Janssen holding sway in defence, Jonas de Geus driving midfield while Duco Telgenkamp and Terrance Pieters give great potency to their attacking lines. They do have a doubt over goalkeeper David Harte – who has announced he will move on from Kampong this summer – but Estiaan Kriek has been in fine form since stepping in. Their Hoofdklasse form sees them in fourth place with three rounds to go, holding a three-point advantage over Oranje-Rood and Rotterdam. KO16 hosts Surbiton delighted their home fans as they brought EHL hockey to England for the first time since 2012 and picked up a FINAL8 ticket into the bargain. They did so by coming from behind to defeat Waterloo Ducks 4-2 and then held off the challenge of Wimbledon 3-2. Those wins assured England of two teams in the FINAL8 Men for the first time since 2013. The London club have subsequently qualified for their domestic semi-finals with one round of the third phase of the English season still to be played. This year’s panel features Paris Olympians Gareth Furlong, Conor Williamson, Tim Nurse, Nick Park, David Goodfield and goalkeeper James Mazarelo who was a reserve with the GB side. Match 02: HC Bloemendaal v Club de Campo – Thursday, 19.30 CET Bloemendaal meet Club de Campo for the third time in the EHL with the Spanish side hoping to get their first win over the Dutch giants. The sparrows produced a blistering first half of the season but have stuttered a little since with three league defeats after the winter break to reduce their Hoofdklasse lead to one-point. Their panel has quite a few changes from last season when Thierry Brinkman and Arthur van Doren moved on while Nathan Ephraums came into the panel. England’s Zach Wallace, Spanish star Marc Miralles and Dutch internationals Maurits Visser, Teun Beins, Jorrit Croon and Dennis Warmerdam give them a range of threats. The Spanish champions are hoping they can get back into medal contention for the first time in 14 years having taken silver in 2011. They had been on a great run of form since Christmas, winning the Copa Del Rey a few weeks ago but a 2-1 setback in the league to Junior FC last weekend ended a run of five successive league wins. They sit third in the league behind Atlètic Terrassa and Real Club de Polo. Theirs is a side packed with Spanish international know-how with Rafael Vilallonga a star talent in midfield; Quique Gonzalez is always lively; Rafa Revila is a strong goalkeeper and Alvaro Portugal will also be key. Match 03: Royal Léopold v Gantoise – Friday, 15.30 CET Royal Léopold will hope they can emulate their November 4-1 win over Gantoise in the Belgian league as the sides face off for the second successive season in the EHL. Gantoise, though, are riding high in their domestic competition with a seven-point lead overall. The national champions bolstered their side with EHL winner Alexander Hendrickx last summer and he has already scored over 30 times in his new colours. SURBITON – 2024 Euro Hockey League KO16 2024-2025 06 Lille MHC v Royal Leopold Club (KO8) Picture: Tom Boon scores the team’s first goal COPYRIGHT WORLDSPORTPICS FRANK UIJLENBROEK no archive allowed Along with Maico Casella and Ignacio Nepote, he has been a vital addition to the side that won the Belgian title last spring. Léo got off to a slow start in the league but have since won through the EHL KO16 phase and then became the first Belgian side to win the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup. The core is solid with talent and experience in each line with the likes of Gauthier Boccard, Elliot van Strydonck, Dimitri Cuvelier, Nicolas Poncelet, Gaspard Baumgarten and Jean-Baptiste Forgues carrying huge experience. And they added Nelson Onana and José Basterra to the forward line beside ace striker Tom Boon to give them serious firepower. Match 04: Old Georgians v HC Rotterdam – Friday, 17.45 CET The ever-rising force on the English scene, Old Georgians are looking to build further on their legend following their breakthrough EHL bronze a year ago at the Wagener Stadium. Since then, they won the English title once more and then added the EuroHockey Indoor Club Trophy in Budapest, sending them to the top tier on the boards in 2026. It continues to be a side based around a huge wealth of experience with the evergreen Ashley Jackson masterminding things as head coach. They have also been strengthened this season by the likes of David Ames (Holcombe), Ian Sloan, (Wimbledon), David Condon and Phil Roper (Holcombe) as well as South African international Thabang Modise. It adds to a panel which already laden with know-how with GB and England all-time top scorer Sam Ward, James Albery Irish captain Kyle Marshall, ex-England goalkeeper George Pinner, Chris Griffiths, Dan Shingles, Henry Weir and Scottish goal machine Alan Forsyth. They take on a Rotterdam side who are hoping to bid an emotional farewell to EHL’s record goalscorer Jeroen Hertzberger who will depart from the first team this summer after 22 seasons. His final seconds equaliser against Hamburger Polo Club was the moment of the KO16 and will live long in the memory. Their side has a wealth of Olympic gold medalists in their panel. Speedster Thijs van Dam, defender Justen Blok, Tjep Hoedemakers, Stijn van Heijnegen and goalkeeper Derk Meijer all took to the Paris podium in the Netherlands’ thrilling run to glory.

The ABN AMRO EHL Men’s FINAL8 takes on the now traditional quarter-final knock-out format with eight of Europe’s best sides battling it out for glory…