Germany and the Netherlands kept up their perfect records but in wildly contrasting fashion on day two of the women’s EuroHockey Indoor Championships in Hamburg.

It puts them in great shape ahead of a crucial meeting between the teams on Friday morning as they vye to pin down one of the final spots on offer for the top two group stage finishers.

The Netherlands made it three wins from three as they won 3-2 against Turkey in a nail biting finale to open up the third series of matches.

The Dutch got off to a great start with Lieke van Wijk shooting into the top corner and they were two to the good when Elin van Erk worked a nice pass from the right baseline for Pam Imhof to slot in the second goal in the 14th minute.

But Turkey showed strong resolve and their star players combined to get them back in the contest before half-time, Sinem Yalçin firing a long ball along the boards to Fatma Songül Gültekin and she finished brilliantly on the run.

It made for a tense second half in which Turkey drew level with seven minutes to go, Perihan Çinar picking the route down the middle for 2-2.

The Netherlands replied quickly with Noor de Baat somehow hitting the inside of both posts before van Wijk rocketied home her second of the game from a corner with a minute left on the clock. Turkey had a corner in the dying seconds to snatch a draw but it was charged down to leave them frustrated for a second game running.

The Dutch moved up nine points from three games and will play some kind of medal match as a result on Saturday; the exact type will be determined on Friday.

Austria, meanwhile, bolstered their chances of moving up the rankings courtesy of a hard-won 3-2 victory over the Czech Republic. 

The first half ended scoreless with Austria having a goal ruled out from a penalty corner, the ball never leaving the circle before Joanna Czech swept it into the cage. Both sides had other corner chances denied off the goal line.

The first goal arrived 40 seconds into the second half Lucie Duchková scoring from a set piece. Austria replied, winning a stroke which Czech eventually converted from a retake, Barbora Cechakova adjudged to have stepped off her line.

Lily Steyrer put them in front from a corner and another set piece was pushed in by Czech for 3-1 in Q3. Katerina Lacina pulled one back in a feisty last 10 minutes that also saw Nikol Babicka shown a red card.

Germany continued their serene progress through the competition with a big 9-0 win over Ukraine who lost their 100% record into the bargain.

Pia Maertens got them off a strong start, flicking in from the top of the circle after Sonja Zimmerman’s clever ball back inside. Maertens then made it 2-0 before the end of the first quarter but Ukraine showed up well, winning a stroke but Kateryna Shokalenko’s effort was kept out by Natalie Kubalski.

Into the third quarter, Germany cut loose with five goals without reply - Lisa Altenburg added two to her tournament total, Franzisca Hauke scored too while Zimmerman hit the net from a corner. Maertens completed her hat trick for 7-0. 

Zimmerman and Maertens both added late goals for another hugely impressive win.

It sets the scene for Friday’s group games with two sets of fixtures determining who will meet who in Saturday’s classification games.

In the morning session, the Netherlands and Germany will put their perfect records to the test at 12.00 (CET); Austria and Ukraine begin the day 9.30 (CET) with Türkiye up against the Czech Republic at 10.45 (CET).

The evening games see Austria face Türkiye, Germany meet the Czech Republic and Ukraine face the Netherlands.

** You can watch every game of the 2022 EuroHockey Indoor Championships via www.eurohockeytv.org; a €3.99 tournament pass is available for all countries EXCEPT Germany for games involving Germany. those games will be geo-blocked due to live broadcasts on local channels. 

Further details here: https://eurohockey.org/2022/11/30/eurohockeytv-to-broadcast-eurohockey-indoor-championships/