Dutch women win a record 8th European title

Netherlands defeat Germany 3-0 in GANT EuroHockey Championship final


On the final day of the women's GANT EuroHockey Championship 2011, the Netherlands won the final against Germany, England defeated Spain for Bronze, and Belgium and Ireland logged wins to send Azerbaijan and Italy in Europe's second division for 2013. Kim Lammers of the Dutch team won the topscorer award, while German superstar Natascha Keller was elected Most Valuable Player.

The grand final of the tournament started with brilliant sunshine and a well filled stadium, with equal parts of the crowd supporting record and current title holder the Netherlands and the German hosts. The Dutch imposed themselves early, taking control of the game and scoring their first after 8 minutes when Marilyn Agliotti deflected a penalty corner flick into the net with a mid air swing. In a lively game, the ball went back and forth but the Dutch looked more dangerous than the Germans who struggled to find their way past Oranje's defenders. Ten minutes later, Ellen Hoog extended the lead to two goals with a fierce reverse stick shot from the top of the circle. During the remaining ten minutes in the first half, both sides had their opportunities, including short corners at both ends, but neither side could find the goal, and they went into halftime with a two goal advantage for the Netherlands.

The Dutch remained the dominating team in the second half, despite a solid performance from and some good opportunities for the German side. Yvonne Frank in the German goal put forward some great saves to ward off more Dutch goals, but she eventually could not avoid Lidewij Welten scoring a third goal for Oranje from a penalty corner rebound in the dying minutes of the match, and with dark clouds having moved in fast again, with less than 2 minutes on the clock, the skies opened up and the girls in orange danced in torrential rain and hail to celebrate another, entirely deserved European Champion title.

German men are European Champions

Germany men defeat the Netherlands to claim their first European title since 2003!!!

The men's GANT EuroHockey Championship final between Germany and the Netherlands was a fitting end to a great tournament: skillful, exciting, a fantastic showcase for the sport. In a sold out 10.000 seater stadium full of enthusiastic supporters of the two best European teams, tension was high from the starting whistle, and there was barely a minute on the clock when Philipp Zeller tipped in a ball across from Mo Fürste.

Shocked into action, the Dutch attacked to pull even, and a fast and even game developed. With extraordinary skills on both sides, both teams had a number of opportunities, and the Netherlands were more effective, pulling level through Roderick Weusthof who beat German goalkeeper Max Weinhold with a superb reverse stick shot. The game went into frantic end-to-end play, with no advantages on either side, and stayed even until the 32nd minute, when a penalty corner for Germany yielded a penalty stroke that Mo Fürste converted without hesitation to give Germany the 2-1 halftime lead.

In the second half, both sides tried to control play better, but Florian Fuchs managed to get Germany ahead again with a great finishing touch to a ball from Thilo Stralkowski for the 3-1. The Netherlands were trying hard to make up some ground, but the German defense stood firm, and there was no passing their ranks, until the Dutch succeeded in winning a penalty corner, which the ever reliable Taeke Taekema converted with another cracking flick. At 2-3 only one goal behind again, the Dutch stepped their game up and attacked relentlessly, but could not beat the wall of the German defense. The Germans were still able to also create danger on fast breaks, and in the 68th minute, Oli Korn deflected a pass across into the goal for the 4-2 lead, and effectively, the victory for Germany. With the final whistle, the new European Champions were crowned: Germany men won their first European title since 2003.