Rakovnik is the venue for the women’s EuroHockey U21 Championship II-A where four teams will battle for gold and a coveted promotion spot up to the top level.
Hosts Czechia will compete with Italy, Lithuania and Wales in an initial four-team group, hoping to earn a top two spot to play in next Saturday’s final.
It is one of two second tier competitions of equal standing taking place this week with Konya in Türkiye hosting the other II-B tournament.
Czechia were in fifth place in the second tier two years ago, finishing one spot behind this week’s rivals Italy who edged them out 1-0.
Captain Natálie Hájková is a vital part of their team with a wide variety of experience despite her young age. She has 69 combined outdoor and indoor caps at senior level, including playing at the Indoor World Cup in South Africa and the Olympic qualifiers in India earlier this year. With 23 goals (10 outdoor, 13 indoors), she will be key to their success.
Zuzana Semrádová is playing in her third Euro U21 competition, debuting in the second division in Alanya in 2019 and then again appearing in 2022 in Vienna. She is another reasonably established senior international with 23 caps.
Overall, they have another quartet playing in their second Euros – drag-flicker Katerina Topinkova, Apolena Al-Amelova, Veronika Pribikova and Linda Nedvědová.
The Italian side hails from 11 different clubs, 10 of them in Italy, with Emyly Forster playing her hockey with MSC Munchen.
Chiara di Bella brings a range of experiences, playing for the Italian senior outdoor, indoor and 5s national sides in EuroHockey Championships in the past 12 months.
She is among a handful of players in the panel who lined out in their fourth place finish in Vienna two years ago. Defenders Maria Torbol, Beatrice Martinetti, Francisca Eschoyez and Camilla Beis; midfielder Micaela Frias and attacker Lara Manzoni will look to guide their younger counterparts.
Lithuania played in Championship III in 2022, finishing in second place behind Türkiye 2-0 in the final after they picked up a group stage win over Switzerland.
Darija Žigytė top scored then and she will be among 10 players who are in line to play in their second competition in this age group.
Their 2022 appearance was their first Euro U21 appearance since 2014 but they have been in the top tier as recently as 2010 when they finished in seventh place in Lille.
A large part of this panel will still be eligible at this age group for another few years and so they will are hoping to continue their bounceback.
Wales’ last appearance in the top division is even more recent, playing in the 2022 edition in Ghent where they finished in seventh place. Indeed, they were close to staying up until two late Irish goals saw them fall 2-1 and miss out on a win they needed.
Nonetheless, that experience can serve several of their players well like captain Ava Dempsey, Maisie Riley, Elen Nicholls, Jemima Robinson, Jessica Parkinson and goalkeeper Amy Hughes who are included in their wider panel this year.
There will also be a buzz in the side as six of the Welsh 5s team that finished in fourth place in Walcz last week are eligible for this team as well.
