It is the only international club tournament in European hockey: The EHL Finals in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. From April 13th to 18th the best team in Europe will be determined in a mini-tournament.
“Huge importance” – Mülheim misses quarterfinals
“The importance for the club is of course huge”says Mats Grambusch, captain of Rot-Weiss Köln, who as German champions are automatically qualified for the quarter-finals. “It’s also by far the most difficult title to win because we have to win three knockout games in four days against the best teams in Europe to win the title. A lot of things have to go right.”
In addition to the Cologne team, the KHC Dragons, defending champions HC Bloemendaal, Club de Campo Madrid, SV Arminen Wien and Atletic Terrassa are also seeded for the quarter-finals. In two early games on Wednesday, Surbiton Hockey Club (7-2 against Paris St. Germain) and Kampong Utrecht, who beat Uhlenhorst Mülheim 4-0, qualified for the round of 16.
Cologne at the start against Kampong
Rot-Weiss Köln will play the opening game against SV Kampong on Good Friday at 8:30 p.m. If they win, the semi-finals will continue on Easter Sunday at 2 p.m. The final will take place on Easter Monday at 4:15 p.m. A loss to Kampong would move on to a placement round.
The KTHC goes into the tournament as one of the favorites of the best clubs in their respective countries. “The goal is always the title, but I think you really have to look from game to game, especially in the EHL.”white grambush. “We still have big steps to take and we can’t think about the title right away.”
Düsseldorf hockey women for the first time
The women also have their tournament this weekend in Amsterdam. Düsseldorfer HC is from Germany. Coach Nico Sussenburger’s team has recently been German champions three times in a row and will meet Spanish runners-up Junior FC in the quarter-finals on Friday (6:15 p.m.). For the DHC it is the first participation in the history of the club in this competition.