Ukraine will play Austria in Vienna while Poland will take on Wales in the two finals of the EuroHockey Championship Qualifiers on Sunday for the last two men’s spots at next year’s main event in Mönchengladbach.
Men’s EuroHockey Championship Qualifier A (Vienna, Austria)
Oleksandr Solomianyi got the decisive goal in the 44th minute when he dove onto a loose ball. It followed a brilliant Bohdan Kovalenko 40-metre run from the left side of midfield and into the circle to shoot.
Scotland hit the post twice in the first half as they put on plenty of pressure but could not break down the Ukraine defence who scrambled well with Bohdan Tovstolytkin holding firm in the face of nine corners.
** Picture above: Manfred Szieber
Austria won 3-1 against Portugal to keep up their hopes of returning to the A division in 2025. They took the lead with the last play of the first half with Maximilian Scholz from a corner to give the Red Capricorns a 1-0 advantage.
Rodrigo Castro’s brilliant backhand from the top of the circle to level matters in the 43rd minute but parity was shortlived as Fülöp Losonci’s drag-flick restored the Austrian lead.
Josef Winkler had a goal disallowed but Losonci nailed a penalty stroke with six minutes to go for the extra insurance they needed for their victory.
Sunday’s schedule will see Hungary play Lithuania for seventh while Croatia meet Switzerland for fifth place which brings Championship II status in 2025.
The final will be on at 1.45pm (CET) between Austria and Ukraine before Portugal play Scotland for third place in the last game of the weekend.
24 Aug
| 12:00 | Ukraine v Scotland | Semi-final 1 | 1 – 0 |
| 14:15 | Austria v Portugal | Semi-final 2 | 3 – 1 |
Sunday schedule
| 09:15 | Lithuania v Hungary | 7th/8th place | – |
| 11:30 | Croatia v Switzerland | 5th/6th place | – |
| 13:45 | Austria v Ukraine | Final | – |
| 16:00 | Portugal v Scotland | 3rd/4th place | – |
Men’s EuroHockey Championship Qualifier B (Dublin, Ireland)
Wales will meet Poland in the final of the men’s EuroHockey Championship Qualifier B in Dublin after they eliminated Czechia and hosts Ireland in contrasting semi-finals.
The Welsh were first to advance as they eased by the challenge of the Czechs with three goals in the first eight minutes propelling them to a 7-1 victory.
Fred Newbold started the run from their third corner after just a couple of minutes before Alif Dinnie got the last touch to roll in the second. Rhys Bradshaw’s corner stretched the lead out further.
Czechia had their moments in attack but Wales were accurate each time they went forward and were up to 6-0 by half-time with two goals from Gareth Griffiths and one from Jamie Rawlings.
Hywel Jones completed their magnificent seven in the third quarter before Lukas Plochý got a consolation goal.
Poland advanced to join them in the final as the world number 28 stunned Ireland’s recent Olympians with a staunch defensive performance, 0-0 in normal time converting into a 4-2 shoot-out win. It means they have now advanced by shoot-out both times without scoring in normal time.
Ireland had the vast majority of the ball and territory throughout but Poland were able to pick off the ball with low tackles at key moments throughout.
Mateusz Popiolkowski brilliantly denied a couple of corners, meanwhile, to send the game to a shoot-out. There, the Polish goalkeeper made two more saves while his side scored four from five, Gracjan Jarzyński slotting the winner.
Sunday’s schedule starts with Malta and Luxembourg looking to record their first win of the competition in the seventh-eighth place playoff. The fifth-sixth place playoff has a ticket to next year’s Championship II on the line when Italy face Türkiye.
The bronze match is between Ireland and Czechia before the final takes centre-stage between Wales and Poland at 4pm (local time).
Saturday results
Sunday results
