The much-awaited EuroHockey Championships 2023 are upon us, and both Vitality England Women and Men’s Team are all geared up to embark on their European campaign with eyes on the top continental prize.
In a tournament where top world-ranking teams compete, both the England Men and Vitality Women have delivered inspiring performances over the years to bring glory to the country. While the Vitality Women’s Team have won 10 medals (Gold: 2, Silver: 2, Bronze: 6); the Men’s Team have clinched nine medals (Gold: 1, Silver: 1, Bronze: 7) so far in the history of EuroHockey Championships.
Having made impressive strides in the recent years, both the teams are confident of a good show in Mönchengladbach, Germany.
Speaking on the eve of the Euros 2023, Vitality England Women’s Team Captain Hollie Pearne-Webb expressed: “We arrived in Germany on Monday, and we’ve had a good few days of training over here ahead of getting started on Friday. The team are feeling good, and I think we’re all just ready to get on to the pitch now.”
England Men’s Team Captain David Ames said, “We’re all really excited about getting started in the EuroHockey Championships now. We’ve been in Germany for the past four days and the team have been training well.”
Drawn in Pool B, the Vitality Women’s Team will face the hosts Germany, Ireland and Scotland. They will begin their campaign against Ireland on the opening day of the competition, and will take on the home side on 20th before playing their last Pool stage fixture against fellow home nation Scotland on 22nd August.
Speaking at the team’s matchups in the tournament, Vitality Women’s Captain Webb stated, “Competing at a European-level tournament will provide us with some of the toughest opponents we’ll face, but we know we’ve done everything we can in training to be the best we can be.”
Meanwhile, the Men’s Team will face Austria, Belgium and Spain in Pool A. They will begin their campaign against Olympic Champions Belgium on 20th August, and will face Austria on the following day before taking on Spain in the 23rd August.
Men’s Captain Ames said that his team’s will be on executing the plans in each match. He said, “We are in a challenging pool, but we’ve faced this level of competition before throughout the past 12 months. As a team, we know it’s important to focus on what we can control, and we know that we’ve put the hard work in, so we just need to remember our overall plan and executing that in each match.”
Top two finish in Pool stage will ensure a spot in the Semi-Final and the winners of the competition will directly qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
