Slavia Prague is the venue for the women’s EuroHockey Championship I qualifier this weekend where the last remaining places at EuroChamps27 will be confirmed.
The top two finishers from this knock-out eight-team tournament will qualify for London 2027, making for a series of all-or-nothing clashes. Each competing side will be looking to win their quarter and semi-finals which will book their ticket.
Today, we look at the first sector on the women’s draw from which one side from Switzerland, Ukraine, Poland and Croatia will earn a spot at EuroChamps27:
EuroHockey Championship Qualifier I Women (Prague, Czechia)
Thursday schedule
Quarter-final 1: Switzerland (World ranking: 36) v Ukraine (WR: 29) – 11.00 CET
Ukraine and Switzerland will both be looking to continue their recent ascent on the world stage with the former winning Championship III last summer while the Swiss’s run to fourth in Championship II was their best ever performance.
It meant, earlier this year, Switzerland contested the World Cup qualifiers in Chile, finishing on a high with a 2-1 win over Canada who were ranked 14 places above them at the time. They also showed their growth in close-run games with France and Malaysia.
The tournament looks to be a special one for captain Stéphanie Weber and Elena Trösch who will both hit 50 caps if they play in each game.
Switzerland during the World Cup qualifiers earlier this year.
Sofie Stomps provides a star turn having helped SV Kampong to reach the Dutch Hoofdklasse playoffs; Dunja Hartsch was an important figure for UHC Hamburg in the Bundesliga. Since then, they lost to the Czechs in the Alps Cup but did beat Croatia in their last warm-up game. Teenager Sanne Meuwsen could make her debut.
They meet a Ukraine side who have the better of the head-to-head with a 4-1 win in the 2024 Euro qualfiers and 2-1 in the 2021 Championship III.
Ukraine’s preparations took them to the Netherlands where they beat Morocco in a challenge match in between fixtures against AH&BC Amsterdam, VVV and Den Bosch.
Karyna Leonova will be the fulcrum of their attack – she has 34 goals in 35 games – along with Anastasiia Voievoda with captain Valeriia Zaitseva. They eased to the Championship III title a year ago with a 10-1 final win over Türkiye.
Quarter-final 2: Poland (WR: 25) v Croatia (WR: 62) – 13.15 CET
Poland come into the tie as hot favourites as the highest ranked nation taking part against a youthful Croatia side who are looking to grow.
They are without Polish icon Marlena Rybacha who is due to give birth to her first child in the coming week or two but Amelia Katerla did return to the fold last weekend for their second series against Austria and brings over 15 years of international experience to the table.
They have a good record against their first opponents picking up a 5-0 win last summer in Championship II with Wiktoria Blaszyk netting twice.
Poland’s Oliwia Krychniak. Picture: Frank Uijlenbroek
There are a number of rising stars included like teenagers Julia Rymer, Sandra Hoffmann, Hanna Wochna and Jagoda Arciszewska while Maria Drozda will turn 21 during the event.
Croatia, meanwhile, endured a tough time at the Alps Cup with defeats against Czechia and Switzerland. The wider panel for this weekend featured four potential debutants and only two players with over 20 caps to their name – Lucija Nizek and Ana Colić.
Similarly, there are eight teenagers and only three players aged over 24 so they will be picking up major experience at each step.
