Women’s EuroHockey Championship Qualifier (Prague, Czechia)
Ukraine and Austria both won narrow encounters to end their respective long waits to get back to the top tier of European hockey and secure their place in London 2027.
For Ukraine, they came from a goal down to beat Poland 2-1 thanks to a super Olha Honcharenko volley while Johanna Czech’s single goal was enough for Austria against hosts Czechia.
In the day’s opening semi-final, Honcharenko’s superb backhand smash earned Ukraine a place in the top division of European hockey for the first time since 2003 as they came back from a goal down to defeat Poland 2-1.
She fished the ball out from above her head to volley in a beautiful winning goal to hand her side a deserved ticket to EuroChamps27 in London next summer.
It was the defining moment of this closely-fought content but Ukraine’s greater level of assertiveness proved the critical factor.
A tight first half saw Ukraine marginally on top but unable to forge out key chances with neither side picking up a corner during that phase.
But the game was blown wide open in Q3 when Marta Czujewicz did brilliantly to keep the ball in play deep in her own half.
She fired a 70-metre pass up the line to Hanna Wochna in behind the Ukraine defence and while she was initially slowed down, she kept her nerve to flick the ball beyond Alina Fadieieva.
Ukraine’s response was swift with Anastasiia Shyshyna getting around the back on the right baseline from where they worked the across to Sofiia Basanets who gleefully swept home.
And they were ahead from a corner just a couple of seconds before the end of Q3, Honcharanko’s beautiful finish from a high rebound.
Poland pushed forward for much of the final quarter but could find no way through; they did eventually have the ball in the net in dramatic fashion with the final hooter going mere seconds before the shot came in.
Austria will end an even longer wait to be in the top division, their last appearance dating back to 1991 in Brussels as they put in a wonderfully composed performance to defeat Czechia 1-0.
That goal followed a sustained volley of attacks in the first quarter as Carla Kemper hit the base of the post and Katharina Bauer had reeled off a shot.
It came from a reset corner, sweeping in from the top of the circle with the aid of a heavy deflection.
For the Prague hosts, their best openings came from a couple of corners but the Red Foxes defence offered up little and snuffed out the danger.
Austria also went close to a second just before half-time when Katharina Proksch’s deflection ramped up onto the crossbar to keep the minimum between the teams at the big break.
And that was how it stayed throughout the second half in which the visitors had the majority of the play, limiting Czechia to just a small handful of circle entries and no meaningful shots on goal.
It meant they secured their 1-0 success and can now look forward to developing over the next year for the main EuroChamps27 event.
