Boys EuroHockey U18 Championship II-A (Alanya, Türkiye)

France completed a perfect tournament with a 7-0 win over Croatia, formally getting what they needed to confirm their place after a dominant week in Alanya.

Indeed, they scored 65 times across five matches and did not concede once and their coach Matthias Dierckens was delighted with the performance.

“We are very pleased to win this tournament after a very good overall performance through all our matches,” he said. 

“Winning all the games with big margins, conceding absolutely no goals is a statement. We proved we deserved totally to play in the A Division. In two years, we will have both our girls and boys teams playing for the EuroHockey Championship I. We’re already looking forward to it.”

Needing just to avoid a heavy defeat, the French showed no complacency as captain Arthur Plauche put them 1-0 up in the fourth minute.

Arthur Morcrette – who was the tournament top scorer with 13 – added two more in the first half along with one from Malo Martinache for a 4-0 lead. Second half efforts from Hugo Dolou, Loïc Berlinghof and Plauche ended the tournament in style.

Hosts Türkiye finished second with a brilliant 7-3 win over Ukraine thanks to four goals from Mehmet Aydin. His first two came in the first quarter to build a 2-1 lead which was advanced to 3-2 at half-time. 

They made their big move in the second half with the next four goals to run out winners with something to spare. Ukraine’s Oleksandr Boiko was named player of the tournament.

Both nations will play in EuroHockey Championship II in 2025.

Bulgaria, meanwhile, ended on a high with their first win of the week to end in fifth place ahead of Finland after a 4-1 result.

Nikalas Zemlyanova and Petar Gonchev created a 2-0 lead and two late goals from Aleksandar Todorov helped them stay out in front despite a Noa Sallinen goal.

Final standings: 

1. France

2. Türkiye

3. Ukraine

4. Croatia

5. Bulgaria

6. Finland