In the afternoon session of the EuroHockey Indoor Championships in Prague, Austria and Germany secured their place in the Final meanwhile The Netherlands, Switzerland and Poland will have to battle it out tomorrow to decide who stays and who will leave the Championship division.
| 15:30 | SUI – SWE | Pool C | 4 – 2 (3 – 1) |
The Swedish team were desperate to earn their first three points entered this game really positively. Stroby scored their first goal in the match in third minute. After that it was only the team of Switzerland that managed to score three times making it 3:1 by the half time. The second half started at the same high pace however the score didn’t change even after Swedish penalty stroke. Sweden did manage to hit the net ten minutes before the end via Hemvik. The score 3:2 would not help so Sweden decided to play power play but that only led to another Swiss goal leaving the final score at 4:2 and Switzerland secured their first three points.
| 16:40 | POL – NED | Pool C | 2 – 2 (1 – 1) |
In a tough match where both teams wanted to secure their place in division A the game was surprisingly equal for a very long time. Five minutes before half time it was team of The Netherlands that struck first by van Dam. A few minutes later the Polish used a misunderstanding of the Dutch defence to their advantage and scored an easy goal by Makowski. In the second half the score was tied for a long time and seven minutes before the end the Dutch scored an important goal by Wolterboer. This lead to Poland having to try power play. They managed to hit the target via Makowski again securing a much needed point for Poland.
| 17:50 | AUT – RUS | Semi Final 1 | 5 – 5 (2 – 2) (3 – 1 SO) |
At 17:50 the crowd saw first semifinal between Austria and Russia. At the beginning of the match it was Lykov that managed to put his team forward by one goal. Austrians answered with their goal in 10th minute. Three minutes before half time Russians managed to find the goal by Proskuriakov. Right at the end of the first half the Austrians had a chance to equalize when winning a penalty strike after their short corner strike was deflected by Russian defender. Their best stricker Korper kept his head cool and made it 2:2. After that both teams stroke once on each side making it 3:3. In the middle of the second half the Russians had a chance to score from a penalty strike and their player Spichkovskii fired a shot in the goal making it 3:4 for his team. In less than a minute Russians added another goal. Both teams were fighting hard for a place in the final and Austrians managed to score via yet another penalty strike seven minutes before the final whistle. The same player Korper added another goal two minutes later making it 5:5. The drama was on. The whole game ended with a tie. Winner had to be decided in shoot out. In this drama the Austrians had stronger nerves and won 3:1 which secured them a place in the final tomorrow.
| 19:15 | GER – CZE | Semi Final 2 | 5 – 0 (0 – 0) |
In the evening we saw the second semifinal between the home team and Germany. Both teams started with great pace knowing well what is at stake. The crowds went wild supporting their teams. First half ended without any ball reaching the net. Second half continued in the same set up, perhaps Germany heated up their pace a bit. After great pressure they managed to score by Woesch. A few minutes later Hertzbruch added another goal making it 2:0. Six minutes before the end the Czechs went on to try power play that earned them a short corner. The goalie made an incredible save. Three minutes before the end Germans had a short corner which was sensationally saved by defender Procházka. The score changed a minute later by Pehlke to 4:0 and few second later the same player added another goal making it 5:0. The Czechs had their last chance for a goal after full time but Plochy did not find the net from a short corner. Germans are the second finalists and Czechs will play in the decider for a bronze medal tomorrow.
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