May was trophy-time in numerous countries around Europe as the outdoor season came to thrilling conclusions in a wide variety of competitions. Here’s a round-up of some of the titles which were decided:
Belgium
Gantoise won a Belgian double as both their women and men stormed to success with big championship final wins.
Their women are champions for the fourth successive year as they won their final double-header over the weekend 5-3 on aggregate against Braxgata. Both sides will play in the EHL FINAL12 next season.
For the men, Gantoise ran up a magnificent seven in the first leg – going 4-0 up in the first half of that game – en route to a 7-1 win over Waterloo Ducks. WatDucks did win leg two 3-2 but they were never in range as the Ghent club won their second successive men’s title.
France
Lille MHC won the French men’s national title and, with it, a spot at next season’s EHL KO16 as they won a dramatic shoot-out over regular season winners CAM92.
After a draw in normal time, Lille produced the perfect shoot-out with Jules Bournac, Desgouillons and Viktor Lockwood all scoring while Arthur Theiffry made three saves in a row for a 3-0 success.
On the women’s side, Cambrai were 3-1 winners in the final as they defeated Lille with Charlotte Querleu the inspiration.
She scored twice before half-time, once with a brilliant reverse-stick shot and then with a penalty corner sweep for 2-0.
Agustina Arista’s penalty stroke extended the lead further before Juliette Hannebicque-Leman gave Lille some hope with their only goal in the third quarter.
Germany
Düsseldorfer HC won back the German title from Mannheimer HC, defeating their big rivals in the women’s final for the third time in four seasons.
They took the laurels in the 78th edition of the competition, edging out their opponents 2-1 in front of 3,000 fans with Selin Oruz picking up the MVP award.
As a result of their respective runs to the German final, both sides qualify for next year’s EHL Women’s FINAL12.
Mannheimer HC’s men are celebrating a German double as they won the outdoor crown in Bonn on Sunday, winning the final 2-0 in a shoot-out after a thrilling 2-2 draw in normal time against Hamburger Polo Club.
It adds to their earlier indoor crown as MHC won their second field championship title after 2017 while both finalists have qualified for next October’s Euro Hockey League KO16.
Gibraltar
Europa – only founded in 2020 – continued their incredible run of results as they won their national league for a fourth successive season and also added the cup this season. In the league, they won seven out of their nine league games to amass a asevn-point margin over nearest rivals, the Bavaria Hawks.
On the men’s side, Eagles also did the double with league and cup success, adding to their EuroHockey Club Challenge II gold. In the league, they edged out Grammarians by three points after eight rounds of matches.
Malta
Malta’s two major men’s competitions were shared out this season with Trust Payments Floriana Young Stars taking the national champions while the Knock-Out competition was won by Qormi Daikin.
Netherlands
SV Kampong won back the Dutch men’s Hoofdklasse title after a six-year gap as they won a dramatic two-legged battle with HC Rotterdam over the weekend.
Jip Janssen was the key man, scoring the winning goal with 100 seconds to go – his third goal of the tie – to make it 4-3 on aggregate and land their ninth national title
On the women’s side, Den Bosch won yet another Dutch women’s national title as Frédérique Matla’s Sunday hat trick propelled them out of sight of SCHC whose wait for a first title continues.
It was their 22nd national championship with a 4-2 aggregate success.
Poland
Two women’s champions were crowned last Sunday in Poland on finals weekend with both MSC Sumchanka from Ukraine winning the 2023/24 competition while KS Start Brzeziny were confirmed Polish champions once more (both are pictured above).
Sumchanka have played in Poland this season and they duly won the title following a two-legged final over the weekend, 3-2 on Saturday and then 2-0 in Sunday to win the trophy.
For Start, as the best placed Polish side were also able to receive the national title with Diana Varanovich named player of the season.
WKS Grunwald Poznan won the Polish men’s title with a 2-0 final win over HK Pomorzanin Toruń last weekend. Damian Jarzembowski was on the mark in the final and ended as top scorer for the season with 27 goals while Mateusz Popiołkowski was goalkeeper of the year to help them win their 28th Gold Cup.
Portugal
Lisbon Casuals won a thrilling women’s title in a shoot-out ahead of GD Viso 2-1 last weekend. It came after both of their two legged final encounters ended 1-1 in normal time.
AD Lousada were the comprehensive winners of the Portuguese men’s national championship with a dominant final win over Lisbon Casuals. They won the first leg 8-0 and then added a 4-1 success in the second leg for a 12-1 victory on aggregate.
Spain
Real Club de Polo produced the perfect weekend performance to win the Spanish women’s Iberdrola League 2023-2024 with a final 3-2 win over Atlètic Terrassa, ending an 18-year wait for the big title.
In the final, the Barcelona club stormed into the lead through Xantal Giné and Flor Amundson in the first quarter; Atlètic fought back to level but Lorena Vives won the title for the side later on.
Club de Campo has earlier won the regular season to claim the other European spot.
Club de Campo were crowned the Spanish men’s 2023-24 MGS League Champion thanks to a 2-1 final win over regular season champions Real Club de Polo.
Chefo Basterra and Álvaro Iglesias got the key goals to get them over the line. Polo had earlier won the regular season and so both sides will go to Europe next season.
Türkiye
Gaziantep Polisgücü won both the men’s and women’s Turkish championship following the championship playoffs in May.
The men won their title with the best performances in the six team round-robin competition to end their season with 11 points out of 15 on offer. The unbeaten run was enough for them to edge out Nizip Zeugma by a single point.
The women’s competition was far more comprehensive with Gaziantep winning all five of their playoff games to sit five points clear of Metpack Alanya Stars in the final table.
