EuroHockey Club Challenge I Men 2026 (Predanovci, Slovenia)
HAHK Mladost and Copenhagen HC took the two gold medals on offer from the men’s EuroHockey Club Challenge I in Predanovci in contrasting styles.
For the Croatians, they were comprehensive 6-0 winners over Malta’s Qormi HC with four first half goals putting them well on the road to glory.
Teo Dabić and Karlo Pejić had them flying high in Q1 and captain Vitalii Kalinchuk and Josip Jazbec put them almost out of sight at the big break. Further goals from Jazbec and Maks Cigić completed their memorable weekend with gold.
The second final was a far tighter affair with Copenhagen edging out hosts HK Triglav Predanovci 2-1 in their decider.
They got off to the perfect start thanks to Tobias Grand’s penalty stroke in the fifth minute and Thor Giessing made it 2-0 in the second quarter.
Triglav were right back in the hunt via Domen Dšuban’s goal in the 38th minute from a corner but they could not build on that opening and Copenhagen held on to their slender lead through to the end.
“We always knew we had exceptional individual talent, but championships aren’t won on paper,” said captain Rasmus Mundeling after the final hooter.
“What carried us over the line was our evolution from game to game, forging a collective structure that united us. By growing as a team during the tournament, we ultimately unlocked the very best in ourselves individually.
“Thanks so HK Triglav Predanovci and Eurohockey for the hospitality and hosting such a great tournament!“
For Triglav, they did however have some cause to celebrate – Mladost were ineligible for promotion from this tournament due to their late withdrawal from an event in 2025. As a result, their third place finish overall was enough to earn Slovenia the second promotion spot along with Denmark.
Earlier, three final quarter goals from Olimpia Vinnitsa saw them make sure of a share of fifth place as they defeated Norway’s Furuset – playing at this level for the first time – in a 4-0 outcome.
It took a while to break through with the first game coming on the half hour from Dmytro Drozhenko and he would later make it 2-0 with 11 minutes left. Vladyslav Tsybulko and Oleksandr Val completed the win.
Player of the tournament: Fran Gjurinski (HAHK Mladost)
Goalkeeper of the tournament: Dino Sencar (HAHK Mladost)
Top goalscorer: Vitalii Kalinchuk (HAHK Mladost)
Final rankings
1= Copenhagen HC (DEN)
1= HAHK Mladost (CRO)
3= HK Triglav Predanovci (SLO)
3= Qormi HC (MLT)
5= Épitök (HUN)
5= HC SHVSM Olimipa Vinnitsa (UKR)
7= Furuset LK (NOR)
