Douai – EuroHockey Championship Qualifier B (Women)
In what is set to be a hotly contested EuroHockey Championship qualifier, France will be looking to bring their Olympic experience and home advantage in Douai to full effect.
The winners of women’s B qualifier will earn a ticket to next summer’s main event in Mönchengladbach while second to fifth place – from this seven-team tournament – go to Championship II, meaning every match carries huge importance for next summer.
On Thursday, Poland meet Türkiye in the opening quarter-final before Ukraine take on Switzerland and France face Luxembourg who are playing their first senior 11-a-side international match. Italy are the top ranked side on the FIH list and they have a bye to Saturday’s semi-final.
** Registered users on www.eurohockeytv.org will be able view games from the competition. Keep an eye on the website to see which games will be streamed.
Match schedule
| Match # | Date/Time | Details | Scoreline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 22 Aug 2024 13:00 | Poland v Türkiye (QF2 (M1)) | – |
| 02 | 22 Aug 2024 15:15 | Ukraine v Switzerland (QF3 (M2)) | – |
| 03 | 22 Aug 2024 17:30 | France v Luxembourg (QF4 (M4)) | – |
| 04 | 23 Aug 2024 17:30 | Loser M3 v Loser M2 (5th-7th Place (M4)) | – |
| 05 | 24 Aug 2024 12:00 | Italy v Winner M1 (SF1) | – |
| 06 | 24 Aug 2024 14:15 | Winner M3 v Winner M2 (SF2) | – |
| 07 | 25 Aug 2024 09:30 | Loser M1 v Winner M4 (5th/6th Place) | – |
| 08 | 25 Aug 2024 11:45 | Loser SF1 v Loser SF2 (3rd/4th Place) | – |
| 09 | 25 Aug 2024 14:00 | Winner SF1 v Winner SF2 (Final) | – |
Italy (World number 18)
The Italians come into the competition as the top-ranked side and looking to retain their place in the top division having been competitive in 2023 in Mönchengladbach, drawing with both Scotland and Ireland.
There, Lucia Caruso was named the goalkeeper of the tournament and she also impressed in the Olympic qualifiers where they finished in sixth place. After that, they had a difficult run at the FIH Nations Cup in June when they finished in seventh place, ending on a high with a 2-1 win over Korea.
For this event, they are set to hand debuts to Maria Agustina Fiorelli, Delfina Granatto and, potentially, to second goalkeeper Augustina D’Ascola.
They are led by joint captains Federica Carta and Sara Puglisi and the panel hails from many different clubs in Belgium. Ex-Argentina internationals Ivanna Pessina (Braxgata, Belgium) and Lara Oviedo (THC Indiana) are among them.
Ailin Oviedo is a club mate of Puglisi and Carta at Real Sociedad; there is a trio at White Star in Belgium, Caruso is in the same country at St George in Kortrikj.; Teresa Dalla Vittoria lines out for Mechelse THC; Antonella Bruni is with Royal Wellington; Guadalupe Moras at Royal Racing Club de Bruxelles; Sofiia Laurito (Royal Orée) and Candela Carosso is the second Indiana player.
The home based players are D’Ascola, Granatto (both Pol Ferrini), Francesca Azul Gilardi (HC Argentia) and Fiorelli (SG Amsicora).
They finished their build-up in strong form, beating Austria 2-1 an then they surpassed the Czech Republic with two Carosso goals and one each from Dalla Vittoria (short) and Granatto.
France (World number 22)
Hot on the heels of their first appearance at the Olympic Games, France will look to carry that experience into this home tournament as they look to earn a place in the top tier for the first time since 2005.
As the lowest ranked side in Paris, they ended their campaign with five defeats but did score twice against the Netherlands via Yohanna Lhopital and Paola Le Nindre and put it up to Japan in a close-run 1-0 defeat.
Preparation for Douai goes hand in hand with the preparation the players underwent for the Olympic Games. Since September, the players have been meeting every week for a series of preparatory training sessions, including weight training, field hockey practice and sharpness tests.
Captain Emma Ponthieu says of the schedule: “It’s been very clear from the outset: our ultimate goal is the tournament in Douai. We’re as ready and motivated as ever.
“Taking part in the Olympic Games has given us the desire to reach and stay at the highest level over the next few years.”
Coach Gaël Foulard added: “Douai is the culmination of six years work. We’re focused on this ultimate goal. We’re going there to win, and we’re going to do everything we can to achieve it.”
Poland (World number 27)
2024 has already been a medal-laden year for Poland and they bring that buzz into this competition, looking to complete the year on a high. They have eight of the panel who won World Cup 5s bronze in January and then nine of the side that took silver at the European indoor championships in Berlin in February.
In the summer, they added European 5s gold in Walcz and eight of that line-up is set to line-out this week.
As always, the 36-year-old Marlena Rybacha will bring her evergreen energy to the table. She has played in the Hoofdklasse for the past few seasons with Tilburg and Oranje-Rood but has now joined up with DSD Dusseldorf in Germany. As an aside, her fiancé Matt Eyles was part of the Dutch men’s staff who won Olympic gold in Paris.
It means Huizen’s Amelia Katerla is the last remaining player from Poland from this panel playing in the Dutch leagues. They were promoted to the Hoofdklasse last season.
A quartet of the panel come from reigning national champions KS Hockey Start Brzeziny while Julia Kucharksa is locally based for this tournament – she plays her club hockey with Douai HC.
Seven of the panel play their club hockey in Germany these days with Bianca Strubbe playing with Louvain-La-Neuve in Belgium.
Ukraine (World number 28)
The Ukraine national team has the special togetherness that comes with 80% of the players coming from the one city, Sumy. It has made for a very busy year for many of them, playing in the Olympic qualifiers in January, the Hockey 5s World Cup in Oman soon after, the EuroHockey Indoor Championships in February and the Hockey 5s Euros in July before even factoring in club commitments. Panelists also played in the EuroHockey Under 21 Championship in Türkiye last month.
“We started our preparation in the beginning of July,” said coach Svitlana Makaieva. “Firstly, everyone from us got an individual program for physical preparation, which includes: running, hiking, jumping, exercises for force.
“After this, our trainings sessions moved to the pitch, where we tried a new tactical and technical skills. Unbelieveble heat forced us to train at 9am. But we stayed just stronger. Twice a week we had gym and run trainings, not only field hockey.
“But sometimes we also felt a bit exhausted after night bombing. We don’t complain about this because our coach of physical preparation is defending us and our city.
“From the beginning of the invasion of our country, hockey united us not only inside Ukraine but also with Europe and rest of the world. After that, we appreciate that hockey is not only the game, it is the big family.”
Their opening match in Douai is against Switzerland whom they played in the final of the 2021 EuroHockey Championship III, winning 2-1 with goals from Yevheniya Kernoz and Yuliia Shevchenko.
Türkiye (World number 34)
EuroHockey Championship III winners in 2023, Türkiye are looking to build on that success as they continue to edge up the rankings on most fronts.
As such, this tournament represents a big opportunity. They have only played in the second division in Europe once before – an eighth place finish in Glasgow in 2019 – and never contested the top tier.
But, indoors and in Hockey 5s, they have contested the elite divisions in Europe for the past two editions and they will look to transfer that over to this level.
The side is captained by the prolific Fatma Songül Gültekin. She has scored 31 times in 39 outdoor internationals, adding to 42 indoor goals in 26 games for Türkiye and 17 in 10 games in the Hockey 5s format. She top scored in both EuroHockey Championship III last summer – their last 11-a-side fixtures – in Zagreb and the indoor top division in Berlin in February this year.
At 26, she is also the oldest player of their panel, indicating how young this selection is while most of their hockey has been on the indoor and Hockey 5s circuit to date this year.
They will likely give debuts to a half dozen players this week against a Poland side who they have faced four times in the past six years; the Poles have won all four previous meetings and it was 2-0 the last time they met in the Euro qualifiers in 2022.
Switzerland (World number 44)
“Step by Step” and “Sleep is the best recovery” – two quotes the Swiss side attribute to coach Matthias Schaeben as key in their journey to success!
Of their line-up, midfielder Raffaela Trieblold reached her combined 50th cap in a recent three-match series with Poland – ranked 16 places above them in the world. She is among the experienced players in the Swiss side along with Elena Trösch and captain Stephanie Weber.
They lost the first two games against the Poles in Lucerne before drawing 0-0 in the third fixture to show strong improvement.
It added to an earlier series against Austria – a win, a draw and a loss – and coach Matthias Schaeben said of where they are: “We were able to make good use of the international matches and are very happy with what we set out to do. Our debutants in particular did very well.”
He is referring to a total of seven new players in the team who were brought in from the youth ranks. During this time, teenagers like Hanna Studer, Adrienne Heselhaus, Hermione Silver, Amelia Peyron and Anne Bohrer all making their debuts since July along with 20-year-old Luisa Paulisch.
Sofie Stomps is a key figure – she played in SV Kampong’s run to the Dutch Hoofdklasse playoffs last season having been with UHC Hamburg the season before. Both her brothers Boris and Lars have played for Swiss international teams.
Ursina Fazis is a top class goalkeeper, winning the goalkeeper of the tournament at the HRH Tuanku Zara Indoor Tounament in Malaysia last December.
Luxembourg (no ranking)
History will be made when the Luxembourg women’s team line out against France in what will be their first ever senior 11-a-side international fixture as they fledgling federation looks to continue its growth.
It is a side that features seven teenagers in its line-up along with four players in their 40s – Danny and Francoise Holper; Diane Krüger and Geraldine Berre – for what will be a huge challenge, starting out against Olympic side France in game one.
Nonetheless, they have had an upbeat year. Hockey Club Luxembourg secured a memorable third place in the EuroHockey Challenge II in Poland, earning a spot in the EuroHockey Challenge I for 2025 – the highest they have ever been on the club front.
Seven of this panel played in that tournament including goalkeeper Sofiia Solska, Daphne Parisis, Geraldine Berre, Louise-Henriane Lestienne-Thiry and Emma Doherty.
They also debuted this summer in the Hockey where they had a tough tournament in Poland but did pick up a 6-1 win over Finland. Natalia Garcia coaches the side.
