Men’s EuroHockey Club Challenge II 2025 – Šiauliai, Lithuania
A youthful Šiauliai Ginstrektė-Akademija welcomes the men’s EuroHckey Club Challenge II to Lithuania where eight teams will be battling for promotion for their nation.
The format begins with two initial round-robin groups of four played from Friday to Sunday. The top two in each group will advance to a final game on Monday with promotion on the line while the bottom two in the groups go to the 5th/7th place playoffs.
** Click here to follow the scores from the men’s EuroHockey Club Challenge II
Pool A
Šiauliai Ginstrektė-Akademija (LTU)
The Lithuanian hosts are looking to make their mark with a youthful side with a wealth of teenagers aiding their rise guided by Lithuanian women’s legend Donata Grigiene as coach.
Many of the side played in the Lithuanian Under-18 side that played in the EuroHockey U-18 II-B championship in Türkiye and have played in the last two editions of EuroHockey club events in Gibraltar (Challenge II) and Croatia (Challenge I). Chief among them is goal machine Povilas Sinkevićius who has 22 goals in 12 previous games on this stage. Indeed, he scored 12 last season alone.
The side is captained by Mantvydas Pocevicius who will be another key figure along with Arnas Ridlauskas.
HK Pomorzanín Toruń (POL)
Pomorzanin Toruń is one of the most distinguished field hockey clubs in Poland, with a rich history dating back to 1935. The field hockey section was established after World War II. In the early 1970s, Pomorzanin was promoted to the top division and has since regularly competed for medals in the Polish championships.
The club won its first national championship medal in 1984, finishing in third place. In the following years, Pomorzanin frequently stood on the podium in both outdoor and indoor field hockey competitions. Its greatest achievements include winning the Polish Championship titles in 1990, 2014, and 2023.
Currently, HK Pomorzanin Toruń finished the regular season of the Super Liga in third place, putting them through to the semi-finals of the national championship later in June.
Wojciech Rutkowski and Michał Kasprzyk were part of a recent Polish international senior training camp in April, making them ones to watch.
HK Triglav Predanovci (SLO)
The side have won the Slovenian outdoor national championship multiple times, meaning almost all of the core players have a history of playing at EuroHockey events for over a decade.
Coach Alan Nemec says of their chances: “We have a great core and a mixture of young hungry players and older experienced players. We also changed our play style this season, to further compliment our best players in their positions.
“We have drastically changed our defensive approach and changed the way we attack. We also worked on our players being able to play in more than one position since we like to play with dynamic positioning instead of the old static ‘stick to your position’ style.
“We’re coming in with high expectations and a clear goal: Promotion. We just hope some of the players can recover from their injuries fast enough to be at 100% for the event.”
They secured their national title with two games remaining in the season.
FHC Akademik Plus Sofia (BUL)
KHT Academic Plus is the successor of Academic Sofia, established in 1991, and has been a regular on the European club circuit for the past eight years. Most recently, they finished in fifth place in Challenge III in 2023 while their highest level was a seventh place in Challenge I in 2017.
The likes of Tanyo Dimitrov, Ventsislav Balev, Radostin Pavlov and Bogomil Pavlov have been ever-present along the journey while Georgi Baklev is a supreme goalscorer on this stage. He has netted 14 times in 14 games for Akademik since 2018.
Pool B
Furuset Landhockeyklubb (NOR)
Having won the Norwegian field hockey league for the past three years in a row, Furuset has become a solid and well-connected team, ready to participate in Europe for the third consecutive year. Although always experiencing some changes in the team due to expats leaving the country and new ones coming in, the side has for years relied on the strong foundation the Kiyani family provides.
With experienced players as Sajid Kiyani, Khidash Kiyani, Atif Kiyani and Waqqas Riaz all related, the team is also seeing new youngsters making their mark. This includes Fahad Kayani making moves into the Norwegian national team and Bilal Salih being promoted to the first team.
Overall, the team includes plenty of international experience. In addition to the existing EuroHockey Club experience, the team includes five current national team players, as well as players with international exposure from top tier divisions in Germany and the UK, such as George Roberts, Julius Jagdt, Jay Jeffcot-Calzado and Aaron Fulton-Brown.
Captain Sebastian Vonen Skaugvoll had the following to say about the team’s run up to the tournament: “Although we have not played so many games yet in the current Norwegian league, it has been amazing to prepare on the new water-based pitch in Oslo, making us feel more ready than ever.
“We met some of the opponents last year in Gibraltar and have a lot of respect for them. The whole team is excited and ready to go, and we are looking forward to showing ourselves again on the biggest stage for club hockey. Although we miss some key players like Andrew Grant, we are confident we can make our mark and potentially fight for promotion.”
Floriana Young Stars HC (MLT)
Floriana Young Stars Hockey Club was founded in 1973 and is one of the most successful clubs in Maltese hockey history, having won the National League 10 times in its history (including the latest coming last year in the 2023/2024 season).
The club has a long history of a strong youth system (having won many honours at youth team level) as well as a welcoming atmosphere throughout the years, as foreign players have been a regular part of their team for decades. This has resulted in a strong team filled with both local and foreign players in different age groups. In total, they have five Dutch players in their squad and Ali Rizwan from Pakistan while Karl Chircop captains the side.
The team has finished third in the Maltese National League this season and reached the semi-final of the KO Cup.
Roslagens (SWE)
Roslagens IF is a club from the Stockholm Area who, in 2024 Roslagens became Swedish champions for the fourth time. Last year Roslagen participated in Eurohockey club Challenge II in Gibraltar and came in fifth place.
They will hope to repeat their 4-2 win over Furuset whom they met in Gibraltar a year ago but they did come unstuck against Luxembourg in that same competition.
The Swedish side have 10 of their panel from their past two Euro appearances available once again. In the local league, they have had a mixed start with one win from the four rounds of action played to date with Leo Törner among the goals.
HC Luxembourg (LUX)
The Luxembourg Hockey Club was established in 1976 and is the sole field hockey club in Luxembourg, the club offers programs for players of all ages and skill levels, from beginners to competitive athletes.
The club is known for its diverse membership, fostering a multicultural community, emphasising community engagements, hosting events like family days and charity tournaments to promote social interaction and inclusivity.
It is reflected in the make-up of the panel which is captained by Pierre Schmit who was part of the first ever international men’s side from his country last year along with goalkeeper Guillaume Mackel.
Otherwise, the panel is guided by Federico Tanuscio from Argentina while there are players of German, Belgian, Spanish and Venezuelan origin.
