Royal Léopold will be looking to enjoy the use of a wider panel at the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup this weekend in Wettingen following 2024’s miracle of Arminen.

A string of late withdrawals last year due to injury and Pro League call-ups left the Belgian indoor kings with only seven regular players for the intense four-day tournament a year ago.

Key players like Philippe Simar, who was the top scorer at the last World Cup in Croatia, Dylan Englebert, and Romain Henet who also participated in the World Cup were all unable to make the event.

As such, they had to field 48-year-old coach Christophe Moraux but they nonetheless finished in sixth place in the 10-team tournament, avoiding the bottom four who were all relegated.

This time around, the seven-time Belgian champions will be much stronger with star indoor players like Tanguy Zimmer and Tom Dergoote getting much more help in the rotation.

In addition, they also have the services of two French men, Olympian Viktor Lockwood and his brother Igor, who will be crucial

They begin their campaign on Friday in a group featuring 2024 bronze medalists HAHK Mladost, Switzerland’s Rotweiss Wettingen and Dutch newcomers Voordaan.

It will be the second of three European club events for Léo this season – they won through the EHL KO16 in October and will now face Gantoise in the ABN AMRO EHL FINAL8 at Easter in Den Bosch.

SV Kampong’s Duco Telgenkamp has been named Sportsman of the Year in Utrecht.

He was presented the award last week in the Beatrix Theater for his exceptional performances for the club with whom he won the Dutch championship, the Gold Cup and silver in the Euro Hockey League.

He was also one of the dominant figures during the Olympic Games in Paris where his efforts helped land gold for the Netherlands, scoring the decisive shoot-out.

Kampong will begin their bid to win a second EHL title on April 17 when they come up against Surbiton at Den Bosch.

MSC Sumchanka produced a performance of a lifetime to become the first Ukrainian club to win a top level EuroHockey Club competition of any description.

Having eliminated German champions Mannheimer HC on Saturday evening – who they will meet in the EHL FINAL12 at Easter – they came back from 2-0 down in the last quarter of the final against Dutch side SCHC to win gold via a shoot-out in Šiauliai, Lithuania.

** Pictures: Frank Uijlenbroek/World Sport Pics

Both sides had their chances in a scoreless first quarter before Anna de Geus broke the deadlock in the 12th minute when she turned in the ball at the back post from a Julie Smorenburg and Maud van den Heuvel’s excellent build-up play.

Van den Heuvel then used her favoured spin move to whip in the second goal from mid-circle to make it 2-0 to the Dutch side.

They went close in Q3 to grabbing a third, Elzemiek Zandee’s rising shot kissing the outside of the post on the way to safety.

Sumchanka hung tough through that phase and then ramped up the intensity in the final quarter. Kateryna Popova’s brilliant step forward created their first goal with seven minutes left, feeding the ball to Karyna Leonova who picked it up with her back to goal to spin and score.

And they got an inspired equaliser soon after, switching from right board to the left, back into Leonova whose first time pass found Popova on the baseline to fire in and make it 2-2.

Back came SCHC with a couple of corners, one of which was brilliantly saved off the line by Valeriia Zaitseva. It finished in frantic style with both sides having final minute openings but it went to a shoot-out.

There, Sumchanka produced the perfect set with Anastasiia Shyshyna and Leonova scoring both while Yuliia Dubovychenko saved brilliantly from Zandee to spark the celebrations.

Six EHL FINALS players won FIH Indoor World Cup medals last weekend in Poreč as Austria and Czechia produced superb runs on the boards.

Mannheimer HC’s Fiona Felber – for Austria – earned silver and SK Slavia Prague quintet Natálie Nováková, Natálie Hájková, Adela Lehovcová, Jindřiška Neusser and club captain Nikol Babická were all part of the Czechia team that won bronze last Sunday.

For Felber, she captain the Austrian side and produced a string of fine performances, particularly in the semi-final defeat of Germany to set up the final date with Poland.

They ended up falling 1-0 in the decider to a single Amelia Katerla goal, making it back-to-back silvers for her side.

Czechia, meanwhile, took bronze for the third time in the past four editions as they also beat Germany in a shoot-out. They stormed through the group stages with three successive wins before defeating USA 4-2 in the quarter-finals. Lehovcová top scored for her side with eight goals.

All six players will now also head straight to Siauliai in Lithuania for the EuroHockey Indoor Club Cup where both Mannheimer HC and Slavia are representing their nations.

POREC – FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup Croatia 2025
34 Austria v Poland (Gold Medal)
Picture:
Fiona Felber of Austria

COPYRIGHT WORLDSPORTPICS FRANK UIJLENBROEK

The overlap between events also extends to the Czech coaching team with Tomas Procházka and his assistant Martin Capouch – both homegrown Slavia players in the past – heading up both the national and club teams.

Both Mannheim and Slavia also won their national championships this season, meaning more European action in 2026 indoors. Easter, meanwhile, will see them play at Den Bosch in the EHL.

David Ames has made the decision to retire from international hockey following 17 years on the elite stage.

The 35-year-old steps back after three Olympic Games, over 200 international caps and five EuroHockey Championships, culminating in silver in 2023 in Mönchengladbach.

Ames – who plays his club hockey this season with Old Georgians who are in the EHL FINAL8 at Easter – is ready to take the next step in his career.

“The time has finally come to say goodbye to international hockey, and I couldn’t be more thankful to have lived the dream of playing at this level since 2008 and in particular for the opportunity to enjoy the last 10 years in this [Great Britain] programme,” Ames said.

“Without a doubt the most important factor has always been the relationships I’ve been lucky enough to form over many years with teammates, coaches and support staff.

“I’ve been blessed to have been given the best of everything in our programme and I’ll be forever grateful for the support, guidance and help throughout the different stages of my career.

“It would be remiss of me not to mention a few crucial parts that have helped me stay at this level for so long. To UK sport for all they’ve provided to me and our wider GB programme.

“To all the coaches past and present for allowing me to be a part of the side for so long, to the many support staff and in particular our physios, doctors and psychologists that at times have gone over and beyond to look after and power me through some tricky obstacles throughout my career.

“To the intense rehab unit for all their hard work to put me back together at times, and of course to Team GB for allowing me to be a part of the most special moments in our sport.

“A special shoutout to all the players past and present. I have been very fortunate to have played with and against the best players in the world.

“I will miss the interactions and enjoyment of spending each day together and a special thanks to the recent group for allowing me the honour to captain and lead the group in the latter stages of my career. That is something I’ll cherish forever.

“I wish everyone within our men’s programme a huge good luck moving forward and have no doubt that your time at achieving the biggest prizes in our sport is not too far away.”

Ames has been no stranger to the EHL in the past, lining out for Beeston in 15 games between 2010 and 2015  while he took on the coaching role for Holcombe in Barcelona October 2023.

EHL commentator Nick Irvine was awarded the Graham Wilson Award for services to hockey journalism as the Hockey Writers’ Club (HWC) celebrated outstanding achievements in hockey at its 41st annual awards lunch held on Friday.

The event honoured exceptional performances, with Lee Morton receiving the Men’s Player of the Year award and Sophie Hamilton being named the Women’s Player of the Year.

Morton, 29, won the award for the first time after a superb year for club and country as he became the first Scottish player since Alan Forsyth to win the annual award.

Glaswegian Morton formed part of a successful Old Georgians team who won EHL bronze and the English men’s Premier Division before starring for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympics, notably scoring a double against the Netherlands in the pool stages.

Morton, who currently plays in the Hoofdklasse with Amsterdam and fresh off the Hockey India League, said: “I’m very delighted to win the award after a successful season for myself.

“It is great to get recognition from those outside that write and watch hockey and that’s something special so I am over the moon.”

Meanwhile, Hamilton won the women’s award for the first time after being a consistent force in the world game in recent seasons.

The 23-year-old starred for Surbiton at the league finals as she scored the winning goal to see the champions to their ninth title in the last 10 seasons.

Hamilton recently starred for Soorma HC in the Hockey India League where her franchise finished runners-up.

Other winners saw Simon Parker, of Southgate HC, recognised as photographer of the year while Josh Pinard, of Hockey Focus, won the first digital and social media award.