France qualified for the top division of the women’s EuroHockey Championship for the first time since 2005 as two first half goals saw them take gold in Douai.

Mathilde Duffrene and Alice Lesgourges both scored from penalty corners in the 2-0 success to spark memorable celebrations in front of their home fans.

The first came when Duffrene’s corner push took a huge deflection off a defensive stick which looped into the goal and, after an umpire’s consultation, was awarded in the 13^th minute.

The second came after a series of corners, Lesgourges finding a direct route down the middle to make it 2-0.

From there, they were composed and controlled in defence and used this to set the base for the big result which will see this generation break new ground next year.

Earlier, third quarter penalty corner goals from Federica Carta and Lara Oviedo gave Italy a 2-0 win over Ukraine to earn them third place in Douai.

After that, they brilliantly defended a trio of penalty corners to stay out of range. Both sides will play in next summer’s EuroHockey Championship II.

Five goals from Sofie Stomps propelled Switzerland to fifth spot in Douai and qualification for EuroHockey Championship II as they defeated Türkiye 6-2. It will be their first appearance at that level since 2011.

It was built on set-piece excellence as the Swiss scored four corners and one stroke which made the difference. Türkiye did lead in the first quarter through Sila Erkoç but Stomps scored three times between the 27^th and 29^th minute for a 3-1 half-time lead.

Erkoç reduced the gap in Q3 but two more from Stomps and a late Paulina Appel corner closed out the win.

09:30	Türkiye v Switzerland	5th/6th Place	2 – 6
11:45	Italy v Ukraine	3rd/4th Place	2 – 0
14:00	Poland v France	Final	0 – 2

Final rankings

1. France
2. Poland
3. Italy
4. Ukraine
5. Switzerland
6. Türkiye
7. Luxembourg

** Watch back on the games from the event on www.eurohockeytv.org