Boys EuroHockey U18 Championship II-B (Swansea, Wales)
The Czech Republic will compete in the top tier of the EuroHockey Championships for just the second time after they won a brilliant boys II-B final against Italy 4-3 in Swansea.
Matyáš Hána scored a hat trick of far from typical corners in the final with two of them coming in the last eight minutes for a famous success, putting them back in the A division in 2025, something they only did before in 2016.
He got his first in the fifth minute with a ripper of a flick. Štepan Šmid set up the next with a powerful slap into the circle which fell to Jonáš Lupač who peeled away and then spun to flick into the top corner.
The response was immediate, Gabriel Bocca producing a thunderbolt on his reverse into the top corner to cut the gap to 2-1. Valerio Iossa levelled it at 2-2 from a corner in the 41st minute, setting up a thrilling closing quarter.
It remained that way into the last nine minutes where Šmid won a corner and while the routine was not clean, it was worked to Hána who whipped it in. And he got another from another corner, one in which he had to wriggle out of trouble and then find another great finish.
Leonardo Arzenton dragged one back with 75 seconds to go but there was not time for one last chance and the Czechs were able to celebrate wildly.
Earlier in the day, Switzerland equalled their best ever performance with a third place finish as they edged out Wales 2-1.
Alex Starling had the hosts in front in the second quarter but Steven Meuwsen levelled within two minutes and the eventual winner arrived in the 36th minute from tournament top scorer Mattia Ribaudo.
The Swiss survived three yellow cards in the second half, ending the game with nine players, but held on to their precious lead and a bronze medal.
In Pool C, Lithuania pinned down fifth place with a 6-2 success against Slovakia, the Slovaks taking some solace from their first goals of the competition.
Indeed, Peter Preverčik’s double canceled out Povilas Sinkevičius’s double to make it 2-2 with 20 minutes to go. Lithuania, though, pulled away after that with Sinkevičius completing his hat trick in their late rally.
Final standings:
1. Czech Republic
2. Italy
3. Switzerland
4. Wales
5. Lithuania
6. Luxembourg
7. Slovakia
** All games from Swansea can be watched back on www.eurohockeytv.org
