Women’s EuroHockey Championship Qualifier II (July 9-12) – Helsinki, Finland
Finland will host the women’s and men’s field hockey EuroHockey Championship Qualifier II tournaments at the Helsinki Velodrome from Thursday to Sunday with two spots at next year’s Championship II on the line.
This tournaments will be played at a venue with special significance in the history of hockey with the Velodrome hosting the 1952 Olympic final.
More than seven decades later, international hockey is once again returning to an arena steeped in Olympic history. The Velodrome has been the centre of Finnish field hockey for decades and was renovated in 2017.
Today, we take a look at the women’s competition.
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Four teams will battle for the top two spots which bring a trip to next summer’s Championship II. The format sees Finland, Hungary, Gibraltar and Luxembourg play in an initial four-team group with the top two advancing to the final while the other sides will play a third place playoff next Sunday.
All four teams are currently in a developmental phase and looking to grow the women’s game in their respective countries with an increasing presence on the international stage.
The Finns will play in their first ever women’s EuroHockey Championship event with each of their representatives set to win their first caps during the tournament.
** Finland captain Debbie Elliott
A quotient of their side, though, do have some tournament experience with the Hockey 5s side who played in the Walcz in 2024 and they will look to use the tournament as a jump-off point for their development.
Head coach Markku Heino says that forming the team was ultimately a fairly straightforward process, saying the group reflects the development of Finnish women’s hockey in recent years.
“You can’t be disappointed when you look at that roster,” he said announcing the panel. “Quite the opposite. During the season, the players and, through them, the entire Finnish Women’s Championship have raised their level. Thanks for that goes to the club coaches.”
“The core of the team consists of players who have excelled in the Finnish Championship while Mira-Olivia Nicolaes and Ailin Festino are new additions I am looking forward to seeing how the Belgian and Argentine hockey cultures adapt to Härmälä women’s hockey. At least in training, it has worked brilliantly.”
Gibraltar (world ranking: 80) are another relatively new side on the world stage having debuted in Championship III in 2023 where they finished third of four teams in Zagreb.
They had a couple of run-outs last month with Morocco making the trip across the Strait of Gibraltar for two challenge matches which the visitors won.
** Gibraltar
Luxembourg are in a similar position having made their first Championship III appearance in 2025. Their highlight was a 2-1 win in that competition against Hungary in the group stage before falling by the same score to the same opposition in the third place playoff.
Their panel has a wide range of ages from 15 up to 47-year-old Diane Kruger with the majority hailing from Luxembourg Hockey Club, augmented by Club de Campo-based Daphné Parisis and Klein Zwitserland’s Chloë Heal.
Hungary (WR: 48) have a slightly longer international history with previous Championship III tournaments in 2019 (Lipovci) and in 2025 in Alanya
Team Manager Zsolt Ferenczi said of this the event: “I expect a very tough and competitive event where we will have to ‘sweat blood’ for every square centimetre on the field throughout the tournament, if we want to return home with our heads held high and with a decent result from our ‘language relatives’.
“Analysing the chances and possible final results is completely unnecessary. We have to treat every opponent in every match with exactly the same seriousness and discipline as we did at last year’s European Championship, if not even more.”
They will miss Kata Béres and Réka Orbók who suffered serious injuries during the spring but they have been working hard since March to be ready for this stage.
** Hungary last year in Championship III action
