Boom, Thursday 24^th January 2013 - The Royal Belgian Hockey Association (KBHB) and hockey club Braxgata from Boom will organize the TriFinance EuroHockey Championships 2013, in conjunction with the European Hockey Federation (EHF).

This European championship for national teams (women and men), the third biggest hockey event in the world will bring the top 16 European  teams, (3 of the men’s teams here and 3 of the women’s teams are in the Top 5 of the FIH World Rankings) to Belgium in August 2013.

The match schedule for the tournament is announced today.

Ticket sales will start on Wednesday 6^th February 2013.

“As President of the EHF, it is my pleasure to endorse the match schedule for the upcoming TriFinance EuroHockey Championships. It is always a challenging task to get the balance right between the fundamental importance of the welfare of the players, whilst trying to ensure that the tournament is enhanced by having the local games at attractive times. In addition, is mindful of the demands of television scheduling, a vital component to the success of the tournament,” says Marijke Fleuren, President, EHF. “The winners, both Women and Men become European Champions and win a direct ticket to the 2014 FIH World Cup in Den Haag, underlining the importance of the TriFinance EuroHockey Championships. I am really looking forward to the tournament and know the massive volume of work that will be undertaken by the organising committee over the coming months. I wish them well and assure them of the continued support of the EHF, our volunteers and staff.”

“We are very pleased with this match schedule. The priority for us as organisation is the optimal combination of a high-quality sports event in a family concept, with an abundance of entertainment. We want to have one huge hockey party. We therefore take account of both the sporting aspect and the times of the matches for visitors from our neighbouring countries and obviously also the matches of our Red Lions and Red Panthers. With this programme, we can guarantee our objective of combining hockey and entertainment“, says chairman of the organising committee, Eduard Biekens.  

MATCH SCHEDULE

Men Pool A           Men Pool B                        Women Pool A         Women Pool B

Germany                Netherlands                         Netherlands                England

Spain                      England                               Belgium                      Germany

Belgium                  Ireland                                Ireland                       Spain

Czech Republic        Poland                                 Belarus                      Scotland

Note :  

The Match Schedule is subject to amendment at the discretion of EHF or the Tournament Director.  

The teams, divided into 2 Pools (Pool A and Pool B) dictated by the FIH World Rankings, play in a first round of games. Following the completion of the pool games, the top 2 teams in each pool play in the semi-finals, with the 2 bottom teams going into a Relegation C Pool.

The official tournament website will start with the sale of tickets on Wednesday 6^th February 2013. A press release with all details of the tickets sales will be distributed at the latest on February 6^th.

In addition to main and title partner TriFinance, the Flemish Government also ensures support via Topsport Vlaanderen, as do the Province of Antwerp, the National Lottery and bank and insurance branch Fintro; they all become ‘main partners’ of the organisation.

For this tournament, the organization will build a temporary stadium seating 8.000 spectators and a fully equipped EC-infrastructure with an entertainment zone of 16.000m², including amongst others shops, eating and drinking venues, a large kid’s entertainment park, etc.

From the very start, the tournament enjoyed the full support of the Provincial Council of Antwerp and Topsport Vlaanderen to fortify the candidature of Belgium for the organisation. The Town Council of Boom also supports the organisation. Earlier on, TriFinance was welcomed aboard as main partner and title sponsor. The National Lottery, with Lotto and bank and insurance branch Fintro, the recent main sponsor of KBHB, now also granted their support, also as main partners of the tournament.

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