SV Arminen’s wonderful new venue awaits for the long-awaited men’s WEMPE EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup with 10 teams hoping to land glory in Vienna, Austria from Thursday, February 15 to Sunday, February 18.
Germany’s Harvestehuder THC are the one side to have tasted such success before, winning the European title four times in the past. They are in Pool A alongside Türkiye’s Gaziantep Polisgücü, Croatia’s HAHK Mladost, Poland’s WKS Grunwald Poznan and newcomers Wimbledon from England.
Home favourites Arminen will look to delight their supporters in Pool B where they face Spain’s Sanse Complutense, hdm from the Netherlands, France’s LUC Ronchin and Belgium’s Royal Léopold.
The target for all is a top two group finish which will see them advance to the semi-finals and, potentially, a spot in Sunday’s final. The bottom side in each of the groups will be relegated along with the sides who finish in seventh and eighth place.
28 of the 29 games will be broadcast live on www.eurohockeytv.org with passes available for €7.99 (the 9th/10th place playoff will not be broadcast).
Tickets are available to purchase at the venue for €20 for one day or €65 for a tournament pass. Cheaper tickets are available to reserve in advance by emailing office@arminen.at.
** For full information about the groups, fixtures, standings, go to: https://eurohockey.altiusrt.com/competitions/323
Men’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup
Pool A
Gaziantep Polisgücü (Türkiye)
Gaziantep Polisgücü recently retained their Turkish national Super League title with Müslüm Elagöz’s 37th minute earning them a thrilling 5-4 win against Selçuklu Belediyespor in the final.
It continues their reign and means they can continue to fly the flag for the nation. In 2021, they earned promotion to the top European division for first time for a club from their country when they took gold in Alanya. In 2022, they impressed on debut, finishing in fifth place overall, again in Alayna.
There, they recorded impressed wins over HC Minsk from Belarus and Poland’s AZS AWF Poznan and they will have a healthy overlap from that vintage.
The side is captained this time by Celal Aydin, one of their impressive homegrown players while Elagöz and Müslüm Ekinci is another emerging talent.
They also have a healthy Iranian influence with Reza Norouzzadeh one of the world’s sparkiest players on the boards; he netted 11 times last time around and earned a World Cup bronze in 2018 and 2022, scoring in every game in both competitions. Overall, they have four squad members from Iran in the line-up.
HAHK Mladost (Croatia)
HAHK Mladost will compete in the top division of men’s indoor club competition, becoming just the second side from Croatia to do so following HK Zelina’s ground-breaking silver medal in 2022.
It comes at an interesting time for the game in Croatia with the national team playing in their first elite championship in Leuven last week. It ultimately ended in relegation but a strong win over Ukraine and close-run fixtures against many teams – including 7-6 versus eventual champions Germany – showed their prowess, not least the player of the tournament, Anže Fujs.
He is one of seven players from Mladost who were in that panel along with goalkeepers Hrvoje Fijucek, Zoran Jakopovic, Gregor Fujs, Fran Gjurinski, Christopher Zec and captain Josip Jazbec.
Another interesting name on their squad list is former German international outdoor player Jonas Gomoll while Ukraine international Vitalii Kalinchuk was the top scorer from the Croatian championship where Mladost finished first.
Harvestehuder THC (Germany)
The 2023 German champions were dethroned recently by Mannheimer HC in a dramatic semi-final shoot-out but do bring an all-star cast to Arminen with many knowing the local vicinity well.
Seven of the eight goals in that 8-8 draw with Mannheim hail from Austra with captain Xaver Hasun, Michael Körper and Fabian Unterkircher all on the mark while Fülöp Losonci was the top scorer for the Red Capricorns at the Euros in Leuven with 12 goals.
In addition, German internationals Anton Pohling and goalkeeper Anton Brinckman are on a high after their gold medals, as will Maksymilian Koperski who helped Poland to silver.
With rising stars like Ben Hasbach and Titus Wex climbing the ladder, they have so threats from all angles.
They are the sole previous winners in the competition having taken the title in 1997, 1998, 2014 and 2016.
WKS Grunwald Poznan (Poland)
Fourth in 2020 in Poznan, WKS Grunwald Poznan will be playing in Club Cup action for the ninth time having won last year’s Polish national championship.
They are well stocked on the goalkeeping front with both of Poland’s silver medal winning goalkeepers hailing from the club – Mateusz Popiołkowski and Maksymilian Pawlak (who turns 19 during the tournament).
Otherwise, though, it is a panel in a transitionary mode with seven of the players named in the initial panel of 16 being aged under 20. They have a healthy Ukranian involvement with Serhii Riabchuk, Vladyslav Tsybulia, Oleksander Boiki and Yevhen Petrenko in place.
Currently, they sit in seventh place in the Super League with two wins to their name.
Wimbledon (England)
Wimbledon will play in their maiden ever European indoor competition having won the English title in 2023 for the first time. They went close to going back-to-back this year, only denied by Old Georgians in a repeat of the same final of a year before.
Captain Ed Horler is a key figure both in terms of goalscoring and from around the boards; he netted 11 between regular season and playoff games.
USA man Aki Kaeppeler also went at a goal a game and is well-travelled on the indoor circuit, playing in the Nkosi Cup in Cape Town before Christmas and last February in the Indoor World Cup. There he scored 11 times in the US run to fourth spot.
James Bailey offers an assured figure between the posts while Rory Patterson has enjoyed recent success with Ireland, helping them take gold Championship II, bringing them promotion for 2026.
Pool B
HHV hdm (Netherlands)
The Hague-based club are looking forward to their second EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup following a second placed finish in 2012 in Hamburg.
This year, they reached the Dutch semi-finals having topped their initial group phase but then bowed out at the hands of Voordaan.
Wiegert Schut is one to watch having been a key player for the Dutch team before their decision to pull out of international game. He brings a sharp eye for goal as do Ruben Versteef and Chris Taberima.
South Africa’s Mustaphaa Cassiem is another on the squad list with the potential to light up the stage. He was the player of the tournament at the Nkosi Cup in December in Cape Town and the Young Player of the Tournament at the 2023 Indoor World Cup. He has an incredible 77 goals in 33 matches for his home country.
Ex-Mannheim player Tino Nguyen is another exciting inclusion on their entry list.
LUC Ronchin (France)
LUC Ronchin are another club making their first appearance at this level having stormed up the ranks. They were third in the Club Challenge in 2017 in Budapest and then were third in 2020 in the Trophy in Alanya.
Since then, they have been frustrated by cancelled tournaments with their allocated tournaments in 2021, 2022 and 2023 all falling foul of Covid-19 and the earthquake in Türkiye.
The indoor project at the Lille-based club was initiated by Viktor Lockwood, a French international who trained at the club during his youth. The idea was born out of the desire of a group of friends to get together every winter for the indoor season at a club close to their hearts. In just a few seasons, the team has grown to win five national titles.
Viktor will be taking on an assistant coach’s role for this event with the summer Olympics in mind but his brother Igor is in the line-up while family members Stanley and Macha are in the managerial roles.
They will hope to guide some serious young talents like 18-year-old Gaspard Denis who played for the French Under-21 side who won silver at the Junior World Cup in December. Fellow teenagers Gabriel Piole and Alexandre Stekelorom (both 17) both struck over 10 goals each during the French indoor season
They feel well set for the competition, looking at a “meticulous process to bring the team up to its best level”. This has included three warm-up tournaments and the French championship final stages where they just missed out on the title to Valenciennes.
Royal Léopold (Belgium)
The Belgian champions arrive with a panel peppered with current and experienced indoor internationals with Nicolas Poncelet and Dylan Englebert having featured most recently in the bronze medal success for the red lions in Leuven.
Captain Tanguy Zimmer, Max Plennevaux and Tom Degroote were present in the 2022 Euros in Hamburg. The big question, though, is whether Philippe Simar – the country’s star indoor player – can play any part following his injury in Leuven.
He was on course for a player of the tournament nomination until suffering a setback on his recovery from an ACL knee injury from before Christmas, putting his involvement this week in doubt.
Their one previous EuroHockey Indoor competition was in Challenge II in 2005 when they were runners-up in Finland to Stroitel Brest.
There is a potential for them to face Harvestehuder THC for a second time this season; Léo won back in October against them 1-0 in the Euro Hockey League KO16.
SV Arminen (Austria) – pictured top
SV Arminen are keen to finally land glory on this stage having finished in second place in 2007, 2015, 2016 (behind Harvestehuder THC), 2017, 2019 and 2020.
Their side features half of the Austrian line-up from the recent EuroHockey Indoor Championship in Leuven although there is a big doubt over the fitness of goalkeeper Mateusz Szymczyk whose tournament ended early through injury.
His deputy there is also his club mate meaning a ready-made replacement in the form of Christoph Sandbichler.
Patrick Schmidt will be vital around the defensive board, Daniel Fröhlich will boss the middle while forwards Sebastian Eitenberger and Maxi Kelner mean a well-balanced panel. They won the Röhrmax Cup in their home hall in January and topped the regular season table in the Austria league with nine wins and a draw from their 10 outings.
With home support, could this finally be their year?
Sanse Complutense (Spain)
Boasting half of the Spanish national team, Sanse Complutense has been at the heart of the country’s success on the indoor stage. Antonio Sanz, Ignacio Cobos, Cesar Curiel, Manuel Rodriguez, Juan Muñoz and David Alvarez all helped the Red Sticks put in a hugely credible fifth place finish in Leuven on their return to the elite level for the first time in 12 years.
Two years ago, they finished in fourth place in Alanya on the top club stage, equalling their second best finish in the competition having won bronze in 2015 in Mülheim. They have played seven of the last eight editions of the competition at the top level.
And they will continue representing Spain in 2025 after they won the Spanish national indoor title with a 5-4 final win over Junior FC with Cobos, Rodriguez, Sanz and Curiel sharing the goals.
