Italy and Türkiye made the big statements on day one of the women’s EuroHockey Indoor Championship II in Lousada, Portugal with two wins from two.

For the Turks, they were pushed all the way by Slovakia in the opening of the competition but ultimately prevailed 5-4. They did hold the lead throughout from the moment Zeliha Kendir and Ece Şahiner made it 2-0.

The Slovaks kept nipping back goals through but never got level despite their best efforts.

Sweden and Croatia followed them on court with a 2-2 draw, Klara Moberg levelling twice to cancel out goals from Lucija Čepo and Lucija Nizek.

Italy entered the stage with a comprehensive 19-0 win over Finlans with Lola Brea getting seven of the goals.

Slovakia bounced back from their earlier defeat to defeat the host nation 3-1, Šarlota Medvikova scoring either side of a Maria Cardoso goal for a narrow advantage before both sides missed penalty strokes. Vanessa Čapová’s 38^th minute goal finally put the result to bed.

Game two for Türkiye was an impressive 14-4 win over Sweden, built around six goals in the first quarter and 10 before half-time. Kendir and Fatma Songül Gültekin both scored six times.

Croatia moved up to four points with a 13-1 success against Finland, Lucija Čepo leading the way with five of the goals.

Italy closed out the day with a 6-1 success against Portugal, albeit a scoreline which looked a little deceptive. The game was level at 1-1 at half-time with Lola Brea and Daniela Nunes trading scores; Chiara di Bella made it 2-1 by the end of Q3 but the result was still in the balance.

But a run of four goals in the last five minutes soon saw the Italians run clear and an overnight advantage on goal difference.

It now looks like Italy’s meeting with Türkiye at 17.15 CET on Saturday evening could well be the crucial fixture in the destination of the title.

Friday results

Teams	Title	Scoreline
TUR – SVK	Pool A	5 – 4
SWE – CRO	Pool A	2 – 2
FIN – ITA	Pool A	0 – 19
POR – SVK	Pool A	1 – 3
SWE – TUR	Pool A	4 – 14
FIN – CRO	Pool A	1 – 13
POR – ITA	Pool A	1 – 6

Day one table

Rank	Team	Pl	W	D	L	Goal Diff	Pts
1	Italy	2	2	0	0	24	6
2	Türkiye	2	2	0	0	11	6
3	Croatia	2	1	1	0	12	4
4	Slovakia	2	1	0	1	1	3
5	Sweden	2	0	1	1	-10	1
6	Portugal	2	0	0	2	-7	0
7	Finland	2	0	0	2	-31	0

Saturday schedule

Time	Teams	Title
10:00	CRO – SVK	Pool A
11:15	FIN – TUR	Pool A
12:30	SWE – ITA	Pool A
14:00	CRO – POR	Pool A
16:00	SVK – FIN	Pool A
17:15	ITA – TUR	Pool A
18:30	POR – SWE	Pool A