At the Final Day of the EuroHockey Championships here in Minsk, once again The Netherlands are crowned Champions of Europe! In a well contested Final the Dutch beat Poland, both teams making history as The Netherlands are back to back Champions for the first time and Poland win silver for the first time.
Bronze Medal Game:
Belarus v Germany 6-5
In the first half Belarus went ahead in the 3rd and 5th minute. In a wave of attacks Germany broke down the Belarus defence twice in the 15th and 16th minute to level the game, and the score remained 2-2 going into the break. In the second half it was a cracker as both teams played the closest game of the Tournament so far. Both teams swapped the lead and Germany played a couple of powerplays to hold bring the scores level going into the final minute. An incredible goal from the base line by Krestina PAPKOVA put Belarus ahead 6-5 ahead going into the last minute. As the clock ticked down Germany pressed hard, but they ran out of time and Belarus take the Bronze.
Highlights – Bronze Medal Game:
| Team | Minute | Shirt # | Player | Action | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belarus | 3 | 9 | BATURA Ryta | Penalty Corner | 1 – 0 |
| Belarus | 5 | 16 | PAPKOVA Krestina | Field Goal | 2 – 0 |
| Germany | 15 | 5 | WINDFEDER Katharina | Penalty Stroke | 2 – 1 |
| Germany | 16 | 25 | HUSE Viktoria | Field Goal | 2 – 2 |
| Belarus | 23 | 12 | BAHUSHEVICH Sviatlana | Field Goal | 3 – 2 |
| Germany | 23 | 10 | DUDOROV Julia | Field Goal | 3 – 3 |
| Germany | 30 | 7 | LORENZEN Silja | Field Goal | 3 – 4 |
| Belarus | 32 | 9 | BATURA Ryta | Penalty Corner | 4 – 4 |
| Belarus | 33 | 15 | SYRAYEZHKA Nastassia | Field Goal | 5 – 4 |
| Germany | 38 | 25 | HUSE Viktoria | Penalty Corner | 5 – 5 |
| Belarus | 39 | 16 | PAPKOVA Krestina | Field Goal | 6 – 5 |
The Final:
The Final
Poland v The Netherlands 2-6
In the Final of the EuroHockey Championship here in Minsk, the defending Champions The Netherlands were taken on by Poland. Both teams started the game slowly, building their attacks. In the 4th minute however Donja ZWINKELS broke the Polish defences and put The Netherlands on the scoresheet. Lieke van WIJK then scored from a classic dragflick from a corner. Poland clawed one back to bring the score to 2-1. Netherlands dominated the second half as they created wave after wave of attacks and these were absorbed by the Polish defence. Paulina OKAJ brought the score back to 2-3 but then they ran out of steam and the Dutch scoring machine kicked in and they scored 3 in the final 10 minutes to stretch the lead to 6-3 by the final whistle.
| Team | Minute | Shirt # | Player | Action | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 4 | 9 | ZWINKELS Donja | Field Goal | 0 – 1 |
| Netherlands | 16 | 11 | van WIJK Lieke | Penalty Corner | 0 – 2 |
| Poland | 18 | 6 | MIKA Joanna | Penalty Corner | 1 – 2 |
| Netherlands | 22 | 3 | HULSEN Lieke | Field Goal | 1 – 3 |
| Poland | 28 | 3 | OKAJ Paulina | Field Goal | 2 – 3 |
| Netherlands | 30 | 12 | de LANGE Lisanne | Field Goal | 2 – 4 |
| Netherlands | 31 | 5 | VEEN Marijn | Field Goal | 2 – 5 |
| Netherlands | 37 | 14 | MATLA Frederique | Field Goal | 2 – 6 |
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Main photograph: Netherlands celebrates (FFU PRESS AGENCY COPYRIGHT FRANK UIJLENBROEK and All Galleries)