"VAN" (Sports Desk - 17.08.2023) :: From 18-27 August, the EuroHockey Championship 2023 (men and women) will be played in Mönchengladbach, Germany, with the winners joining France and Australia in qualifying for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Eight teams per gender will compete in the event that will begin with a league stage where the teams will be split into two pools of four teams each. The top two teams at the end of the group stages will qualify for the semi-finals. The teams finishing in third place in the group stage will face off against each other in the battle for the 5th place, while teams finishing bottom of the group stage will face off to classify in the 7th place.
The teams that win the EuroHockey Championships (men and women) will seal their berths at the Olympic Games. The teams classifying from 2nd to 6th in the men’s Championship and the teams classifying from 2nd to 7th in the women’s Championship will get a second opportunity to qualify at the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024.
In the women’s competition, Belgium, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Scotland and Spain are the 8 teams that will compete for the top spot in hopes of securing direct qualification to the Olympic Games. Pool A will comprise Belgium, Italy, Netherlands and Spain, while England, Germany, Ireland and Scotland will compete in Pool B. England will take on Ireland in the first women’s match of the competition on 18 August at 17:00 local time (CEST).
David Ralph, head coach of the England women’s team spoke ahead of the Championship and said: “We’re all excited to get started at the EuroHockey Championships. We’ve had some good early season tests which I believe has been good preparation for the level of competition we’ll face in Germany.”
Valentin Altenburg head coach of the hosts Die Danas mentioned the home support and said: “No matter where we have played as Danas in the last few weeks, whether in Wiesbaden, Limburg or Rüsselsheim, it was always sold out. The spark jumped from the field to the spectators and from the spectators to the players. That makes an incredible amount of anticipation for a sold-out house at the European Championship in our living room. In every game of the EuroHockey Championships 2023 we will look for our chance.”
In the men’s competition, Austria, Belgium, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Wales are the 8 teams that will compete for the top spot in hopes of securing direct qualification to the Olympic Games. Pool A will comprise Austria, Belgium, England and Spain, while France, Germany, Netherlands and Wales will compete in Pool B. Netherlands will take on France in the first men’s match of the competition on 19 August at 15:30 local time (CEST).
Jeroen Delmée, head coach of reigning EuroHockey Champions, Netherlands speaking ahead of the event, said: “The European Championship is a title tournament and that is what we play for, but once every four years it is also the shortest route to the Olympic Games. That is a nice bonus at this price.”
Andre Henning, head coach of the reigning world champions and home team, Germany speaking in the build up to the event said: “This team has a strong mix of offensive power and immense defensive qualities. At the European Championship we want to use that to use our speed on the counterattack. It's going to be a very special event because it's the first home tournament of everyone's career.”
A total of 12 teams, in each of the men’s and women’s categories, will compete in Hockey at the Olympic Games. The hosts France have gained direct qualification, leaving 11 spots up for grabs. Australia (men and women) won the 2023 Oceania Cup to seal their qualification to the Olympics. Apart from the European champions, the continental championships in the Americas, Africa and Asia, will be held in the buildup to the Olympic Games where the winner of each of these three events will also gain direct qualification to the upcoming Olympic Games. The FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024, which will be held in January 2024, provide a second opportunity for teams to qualify for the remaining 6 spots at the Olympic Games.
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