Austria hold off Poland challenge to retain women’s U21 indoor title

Austria retained the women’s EuroHockey U21 Indoor Championship as they brilliantly held on for a 3-2 win over hosts Poland to win a tense deciding game in Wałcz.

Poland required a draw to win the competition and they got off to the perfect start when Marta Czujewicz launched a corner into the top of net.

But they were unable to make more use of further corners as the Red Foxes put in a strong defensive shift from the set pieces. And they got back level when Tara Moser raced down the right boards and crossed for Hannah Scherf to score the first of her two goals.

Philippa Proksch gave Austria the lead for the first time when her corner shot bounced in in the 23rd minute.

And the crucial third goal arrived later in Q3 when Katharina Bauer’s shot was half-saved and Scherf swooped to force the ball over the line for 3-1.

Oliwia Krychniak cut the gap to the minimum with five minutes to go, touching in Maria Drozda’s smart ball from the left baseline.

But, try as they might, they could not find a further goal which would have brought them gold as Austria held on to win this trophy for the second time.

Earlier, Türkiye took bronze thanks to an incredible five-goal spree from Nur Baran to record a 5-1 win over Switzerland.

Going into the match, they needed a two-goal win to overhaul Italy who had beaten Croatia 6-1 in the day’s opening match.

It looked nervy for the Turks and they fell behind to an Adrienne Heselhaus goal in the first quarter.

But the game turned during an incredible 110 second spell in the second quarter. Baran equalised when she intercepted on the top of the D and slotted home.

An exquisite swivel round-the-back shot made it two 45 seconds later and she completed her hat trick soon after for a 3-1 lead.

After that, Switzerland threw everything forward but missed three penalty strokes and they were caught out twice more when they withdrew their goalkeeper in the closing quarter.

Italy had put Türkiye under pressure with their win, Francisca Eschoyez leading the way with three goals to lift them past the challenge of Croatia.

Final standings:

  1. Austria
  2. Poland
  3. Türkiye
  4. Italy
  5. Switzerland
  6. Croatia

    Player of the tournament: Katharina Bauer (Austria)
    Goalkeeper of the tournament: Elena Lendl (Austria)
    Top goalscorer: Eleonora di Paola (Italy) – 8 goals

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