The Swiss team put on a remarkable display in front of their home crowd to secure gold at the EuroHockey U21 Indoor Championship.
Switzerland clinched the championship title with a 6-3 victory over Austria in a thrilling final. After a scoreless first period, Switzerland took the lead in the 20th minute with a field goal by Jens Flück, followed by a penalty corner conversion from Jonathan Baumbach in the 24th minute to make it 2-0. Austria responded swiftly in the 29th minute with two quick field goals from Julian Kaiser and Anuga-Wehtum Munaweera, leveling the score at 2-2.
Austria briefly took the lead in the 33rd minute with another goal from Julian Kaiser, but Switzerland equalized in the 34th minute through a penalty stroke by captain Yannick Hug. Switzerland regained control with goals from Léonard Kraxner via a penalty corner in the 36th minute, another penalty stroke by Jens Flück in the 37th, and a final penalty corner by Fritz Eickhoff in the 40th minute to seal the victory.
Italy secured the bronze medal with a narrow 4-3 victory over Croatia in an excellent battle. The first period ended goalless, but Italy broke the deadlock in the 16th minute with a field goal from Jonas Carelli. Giacomo Palombi extended Italy’s lead in the 23rd minute to make it 2-0. Croatia responded in the 26th minute through Luka Mesarić, but Italy’s Valerio Iossa struck twice in quick succession in the 34th and 35th minutes, giving Italy a comfortable 4-1 lead. Croatia staged a late comeback with two more goals from Mesarić in the 36th and 37th minutes, but Italy held on to claim the bronze medal.
Earlier today Pool C concluded with Poland, Czechia, and Denmark securing their slot in the 2027 Championship division with Türkiye being relegated to Championship II.
In the first game of the day Denmark secured their place in the Championship division in 20 with a 4-2 victory over Czechia. Czechia took an early lead in the 2nd minute with a penalty corner goal by Martin Plachý. Denmark equalized in the 17th minute through Hector Nørgaard’s penalty corner, but Czechia responded swiftly in the 18th minute, regaining the lead with a penalty corner by Lukáš Stibor. Denmark turned the game around with a penalty stroke from Nørgaard in the 27th minute, followed by two field goals from Marius Denta in the 28th and 33rd minutes to seal the win.
Game 2 and Poland delivered a commanding performance, securing a 9-4 victory over Türkiye in Pool C action. Poland took an early lead with three penalty corner goals from captain Jakub Hołosyniuk in the 3rd, 4th, and 10th minutes. Maciej Kurowski added a field goal in the 6th minute to make it 3-0 at the first break. Türkiye responded in the 18th minute with a penalty corner goal by Cihan Korkmaz, and Ali Kızılırmak scored a field goal in the 24th minute to reduce the deficit. However, Poland surged ahead with further goals from Kurowski, Henryk Wolsztyński, Aleks Marcinkowski, and Karol Gumny, taking advantage of a Turkish powerplay, and securing their comfortable win. Türkiye managed two late goals through Zeynel Öz and Ramazan Buğan, but it wasn’t enough to challenge Poland’s dominance.
REWATCH the games on www.eurohockeytv.org
