Poland held their nerve to win a brilliant women’s EuroHockey 5s Championship final to the delight of their home crowd in Walcz, seeing off Ukraine in a shoot-out in the final.
It was a cracking contest from start to finish with the swings of momentum swaying from end to end with normal time ending 4-4.
Sandra Tatarczuk’s top corner reverse-stick shot started the scoring and Julia Balcerzak’s accurate low shot from distance put them two clear.
Ukraine, though, were level by half-time as Anastasiia Shyshyna raced forward and picked out the backboard and then captain Kateryna Shokalenko found the bottom corner in the 15th minute.
Poland regrouped at the interval and were back in front within seconds of the restart courtesy of Daria Skoraszewska, flicking into the net while running from left to right.
Valeriia Zaitseva’s hit from just inside the scoring zone tied it at 3-3 when Balcerzak got Poland in front for a third time from a challenge.
Balcerzak subsequently saved a Ukraine effort off the line, as did Monika Polewczak as Ukraine piled on the pressure. Anna Tanchenko did level the game with a reverse-stick shot on the slide for 4-4, however, to take it to a shoot-out.
There, Balcerzak once again made a big impact as she put her side in front and the game was won when Amelia Katerla scored a penalty stroke after she was fouled, taking the victory 2-0.
Italy took bronze in what was their first ever EuroHockey 5s campaign with a solid 3-1 success against Wales. Delfina Granatto put them in front with three minutes gone and Chiara di Bella doubled up in the sixth minute for a flying start.
Julia Spence quickly replied to keep the game in the balance but Clara Ramon’s second half goal settled the contest in Italy’s favour.
Türkiye took fifth spot when they defeat Sweden 8-6 with hat tricks from Fatma Songul Gültekin and Gülcan Paksoy.
Lithuania finished their tournament on a high with a 13-1 win over Luxembourg with four goals from Samanta Jakovleva. Luxembourg’s first ever women’s international tournament concluded with an eighth place finish as a result.
Final rankings
- Poland
- Ukraine
- Italy
- Wales
- Türkiye
- Sweden
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Finland
Today’s results:
| Time | Teams | Title | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 | LUX – LTU | 7th/8th place | 1 – 13 (1 – 7) |
| 10:45 | ITA – WAL | 3rd/4th place | 3 – 1 (2 – 1) |
| 12:15 | POL – UKR | Final | 4 – 4 (2 – 2) (2 – 0 SO) |
| 13:00 | SWE – TUR | 5th/6th place | 6 – 8 (4 – 5) |
