HC Olten have an EHL Men’s debut to look forward to as they emerged as the Swiss champions over the weekend, getting the better of Rotweiss Wettingen and Luzerner SC.

Lorenz Gassner was the semi-final hero against Rotweiss after normal time had ended 3-3, leading to a shoot-out where he netted the winner.

Regular season winners Grasshoppers came surprisingly unstuck in the semi-final by the hosts 5-1 to take their place in the final.

In the decider, young talent Noa Peyer gave Olten a 1-0 lead with a precise backhand shot, which lasted until the half-time break.

Lucerne equalised after the restart, Orell Küttel remained ice-cold after a counterattack and scored to make it 1-1.

In the third quarter, it was Lukas Hengartner – the NLA men’s top scorer – who gave Olten back the lead with a powerful penalty corner.

In the final period, Lucerne pressed hard for the equaliser, earning a total of eight penalty corners, but were unable to convert any of them.

Olten counter-attacked again in the final minutes and scored into an empty net to make the final score 3-1.

HC Wien will play in the EHL for the second time after they won the Austrian title over the weekend with a 3-2 final win over SV Arminen.

It was something of a surprise after they finished the regular season in third place but they defeated both Post SV 4-2 on Saturday and then the table-toppers for glory.

Picture: Austria_Hockey/Elmaximusmanfredo_Photography

Arminen did take the lead in the 18th minute via Benjamin Kelner but Wien replied quickly, Benedikt Meisel equalising two minutes later. It remained 1-1 through to half-time.

In Q3, Julian Kaiser put Wien ahead for the first time from a corner only for Jonas Fischer to pick out Alexander Bele whose quick touch found the net, 2-2.

And the game was eventually settled when Josef Winkler’s great work found Franz Lindengrün in the circle and he placed home the crucial goal.

Wien last played in the EHL in 2015’s ROUND1 in Hamburg and so they will be looking forward to their second campaign in the competition as Austria’s representative in October.

Switzerland will take the one remaining EHL Men’s spot for the 2025/26 season following the conclusion of the EuroHockey Club competitions last weekend.

Their nation is in 11th place on the EHL Ranking Table, dropping one place below Czechia, to retain their one place in next October’s KO16.

Who receives that ticket on their behalf will be decided later this month at the Swiss championship finals. Theirs is one of two spots remaining to be filled with the Austria representative set to be confirmed this month, too.

For the other 18 places, from the Netherlands, SV Kampong and Bloemendaal will go to the KO16 while AH&BC Amsterdam have a bye to the FINAL8. Braxgata and Royal Léopold are the Belgian KO16 teams with Gantoise through to next Easter already.

From England, Old Georgians and Wimbledon will play in the KO16 with Surbiton into the FINAL8 while Germany will be represented by Hamburger Polo Club (KO16) and Crefelder HTC (FINAL8).

Spain’s Real Club de Polo and Club de Campo are in the KO16 as are France’s CAM92 and Saint Germain. Ireland will, once again, have Banbridge as their club while Western Wildcats line out on behalf of Scotland.

The latest qualifier was confirmed last weekend when Slavia Prague won the Czech title.

2025/26

NationKO16FINAL8NetherlandsKampongBloemendaalAH&BC AmsterdamBelgiumBraxgataRoyal LéopoldGantoiseEnglandOld GeorgiansWimbledonSurbitonGermanyHamburger Polo ClubCrefelder HTCSpainReal Club de PoloClub de CampoFranceCAM92Saint GermainAustriatbcIrelandBanbridgeScotlandWestern WildcatsCzechiaSlavia PragueSwitzerlandtbc

Slavia Prague did the Czechia Extra Liga double with both their men and women qualifying for next season’s Euro Hockey League on Saturday.

Both went to shoot-outs with the women defeating HC 1972 Rakovník while the men saw off TJ Plzeň Litice, after both ended 2-2 in normal time.

The women’s final duel brought an even battle in which, after three quarters, Slavia led 1-0 via Lucie Nová and they looked to be on their way when Natalie Hájková extended the margin.

But Rakovník summoned a big comeback with Tereza Matoušková and Veronika Tománková both scoring in the last two minutes to earn the shoot-out chance.

The momentum, though, swung back to Slavia who held their composure to win the shoot-out 2-0.

In the men’s final, the flow of action went the opposite way with Litice building a 2-0 lead via Michal Bárta and Eduard Gerlický. Slavia, though, turned the game around with goals in the last six minutes from Frantisek Toms and Martin Plachý.

And – in contrast to the women’s final – they carried that momentum into the shoot-out to win back the national title after a couple of years of Litice-reign.

Corentin Sellier was the toast of Montrouge as he spun in the winning shoot-out for CAM92 as they defeated Saint Germain in the French men’s final.

Normal time had ended 2-2 to set the scene for CAM92 to win 3-1 in the deciding moment to spark big celebrations.

The match started fairly evenly with both teams keeping an eye on each other and taking no risks. It was ultimately Montrouge who struck first on their second foray into the opposition circle: Louis Poupée opened the scoring with a well-executed penalty corner.

 In the second quarter, Saint-Germain raised the tone and the pressure paid off when Blaise Rogeau equalised after a fine team move.

Just before the break, however, Poupée scored his second from a rebound, giving Montrouge the lead again (2-1). 

Saint Ger, once again, replied in Q3 via Jules Verrier and while the chances came and went at both ends, that was how it finished in normal time.

The shoot-out went the way of CAM, Lucas Montecot, Timothée Clément and Sellier sending them to success.

Xavi Lleonart enjoyed the perfect send-off to his incredible career with Real Club de Polo with a Spanish men’s title as they beat Atlètic Terrassa 2-1 at the Estadi Municipal Martí Colomer in Terrassa.

Ramon Sala’s team has proven to be the most consistent of the entire season. They won the regular season with two games remaining, defeated Junior 3-2 in the Final Four semi-finals, and in this final match, they did the same against a combative Atlètic.

It was Lleonart who opened the scoring, converting a penalty stroke that Guillemo Fortuño had won with a brilliant individual move. The match had been very even up to that point, but the Barcelona club had the better chances.

Atlètic grew into the game and they were level just before the end of the third quarter. With 15 seconds left, they made two passes from midfield into the opposing box, and Quim Malgosa pounced on a ball to beat Luis Calzado.

The final period became a duel between Pol Cabré and Luis Calzado who blocked the Atlètic player’s shots four times.

Then, with three minutes left, Fortuño passed the ball down the right wing to Arnau de Bruijn, and the ball crossed the goal line.

The video umpire ruled out a goal because the ball touched his body before scoring but a penalty corner was awarded instead for earlier danger; Benedikt Schwarzhaupt step up to score the winning goal for El Polo.

Lleonart said afterwards: “I don’t think sport is fair, it’s not romantic, but you always learn things, and today is a dream come true for me.

“I never thought of today as my last game, but rather another final where the goal had to be achieved. I’m very happy for this team that has been fighting end to end and we’ve finally gotten over the disappointment and achieved what we wanted.

“I don’t know what the future holds, but finishing it like this leaves me fulfilled. I’ve kept going as long as I could, with more desire than physical strength.

“Mentally, I’m ready to continue, but my body isn’t able to support me and we have to be smart at this point and make way for the great stars coming up behind us, with whom we’ll have a brilliant future.”

Both Polo and Atlètic Terrassa will play in next October’s EHL KO16.