It is a case of renewed rivalries in Murska Sobota in Slovenia as six of the teams that met in 2023 in the women’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge I meet once more.
From Pool A, HF Lorenzoni, Ukimerioni Kutaisi and Partille will hope to use their experience against Hungarian newcomers BKGDSE-Fasor. Pool B’s returnees are hosts HK Moravske Toplice (pictured above), Copenhagen and Lisbon Casuals who are joined by FHC Akademik Plus Sofia.
** To follow the fixtures and scores, click here: https://eurohockey.altiusrt.com/competitions/328
Women’s EuroHockey Indoor Club Challenge I (Murska Sobota, Slovenia)
Pool A
BKGDSE-Fasor (Hungary)
Formed in 2015, the Hungarian side are competing in their first ever European competition with each player in their entire panel making their debut. It is a young selection with eight teenagers in the squad while their captain is 21-year-old Luca Gyarmati.
It is a Hungarian side’s first appearance at this level since 2014 while Agyse played in Challenge II in Slovenia in 2020 in Puconci and Rogowo in 2022, finishing third each time.
BKGDSE-Fasor lead the way in the Hungarian competition ahead of SZLG DSE with Lilla Szlonkai top scoring with four goals.
HF Lorenzoni (Italy)
The Italian champions from 2023 feature Alessia Anania who competed at the European championships in Berlin while Lisa di Blasi has also been part of the international setup.
Ukraine’s goalkeeper Alina Fadieieva is another big performer; her compatriot Olha Kurovska also brings plenty of knowhow from previous tournaments with MSC Sumchanka.
It is a blend of experienced with the captain being 43-year-old Elena Carletti while there are four teenagers in the squad, three of them making their debuts at this level.
They were third in Challenge I last year in Skierniewice where they won well against Georgia’s Kutaisi and Copenhagen who are involved again this week. They finished this season in third place in the regular indoor season and in the final four playoffs.
Partille SC (Sweden)
Partille SC is a team with a lot of experience; they have been playing the Euro club events since 2013 and many of the players have been playing since the beginning.
For this season, they have one new player, Nora Thien, with a lot of technical skills and an eye for goal making. The team have prepared with a lot of practice both hockey and physics and attended Mason Cup in Denmark in the beginning of the tournament. The team got in second place after Copenhagen, that is also taking part in this event.
The captain Sofia Blomgren said: “We are really excited for heading to the Euro Cup to get some really good games and hope for a fun and though competition.”
Ukimerioni Kutaisi (Georgia)
Ukimerioni Kutaisi has a long history in Georgian hockey and is the current champion of Georgia for the fifth time in a row. Also, in 1988, their youth team was champion of the Soviet Union.
The team traditionally consists of talented Georgian and Ukrainian hockey players and is proud to be representing Georgia for the fifth year in a row on the European stages.
The team has had a few tournaments playing 5s and indoor hockey against their Armenian neighbours and are eager to compete against and learn from stronger and more experienced European opponents. The leading players are Georgian international players Tamta Arusia, Teona Kuprade and Bella Rukhadze and former Ukrainian international player Viktoriia Mazurkevich.
Coach and club president is Avtandil Tevdoradze; he is the founder and driving force of Ukimerioni Kutaisi, without whom the team would not be able to participate.
He says: “We are proud and grateful for the opportunity to able to participate in European Competitions, every year we hope to improve and keep the hockey alive in our country Georgia. We are hoping that once our country enters the European Union things will be easier for us. For now, we are grateful to the global hockey family for helping us and we are looking forward to coming to Slovenia to compete and show what we have learned.”
Pool B
Copenhagen HC (Denmark)
The oldest club in Scandinavia, they come into the competition having topped their regular season table thanks to recent wins over Orient Lyngby and Odin/MHK with goals shared around between Pau Fiaschi, Cecile Jacobsen and captain Caroline Mourier.
Theirs is a side with a cosmopolitan feel, featuring three Germans, three Dutch players and one each from Argentina and Spain. Mourier captains the side and – despite being 23 – will be competing in her fifth Euros.
Their last trip to Slovenia in 2020 ended with gold in Challenge II and they subsequently finished fifth in 2022 and then fourth in 2023 in Challenge I.
FHC Akademik Plus Sofia (Bulgaria)
FHC Akademik Plus Sofia are back in European action for the first time since 2020 when they ended in sixth place, a year on from their best ever finish in Douai in 2019.
This is an experienced line-up with half of the panel aged over 30 while the likes of Elena Persheva, Aleksandra Ilarionova and Tereza Indzhova have 21 prior games under their belt.
Lisbon Casuals (Portugal)
Lisbon Casuals are playing in the Challenge I competition for a third successive year, finishing in fifth place in 2023 and sixth in 2022.
They have Portugal internationals Isabel Gregg and Maria Leitao in their ranks while there is a quartet of players who hail from Argentina in their squad list.
HK Moravske Toplice (Slovenia)
The host club has been running for 25 years and are reasonably frequent hosts of international tournaments, welcoming this event in 2018 when they finished in fifth place.
But this team is a young one with just a few who had internal experiences of tournaments like this so they are completely focused to show everybody that they can give a good impression.
Three of their line-up are making their debuts, including a pair of 15-year-olds and goalkeeper Mojca Mutvar. Lara Črnko captains the side and she has already played in 26 matches in European indoor tournaments between spoells at Triglav Predanovci and Toplice.
