Hilversum, August 13, 2013 - The Euro Hockey League (EHL) and the European Hockey Federation (EHF) are delighted to announce the draw and venues for Round 1.1 and Round 1.2 of the forthcoming 2013-14 season. The city of Barcelona (ESP) and Lille MHC (FRA) will play hosts to Europe’s finest club hockey competition. Twenty-four teams met the selection criteria and will play Round 1 this October. Each event will feature twelve teams divided in four pools of three. The top two of each pool will reach the KO16 tournament. At the end of Round 1 sixteen teams remain in the competition.
Round 1.1 at the Complex Esportiu Municipal Pau Negre-Parc del Migdia in Barcelona will begin on Friday 11 October and finish on Sunday 13 October 2013. Round 1.2 at Lille MHC will take place two weeks later, beginning on Friday 25 October and finishing on Sunday 27 October 2013. Lille hosted Round 1 of the EHL before in 2008 and has had a great impulse in growth thanks to the top European club hockey competition.
Jean-Michel Dutrieux, chairman of Lille MHC: “We want to show to the city of Lille and its community how great hockey can be. Organizing Round 1 of the Euro Hockey League will help us with that. And it gives us the opportunity to give something back to our supporting hockey community. We have a great team here that handles the organization of the event and we hope that Round 1 of the Euro Hockey League in Lille will become a tradition.”
There are six teams who will compete in this seasons Euro Hockey League for the first time: Harvestehuder (GER), Cardiff & Met (WAL), Surbiton (ENG), SV Kampong (NED), AZS Politechnika Poznanska (POL) and SV Arminen (AUT). The draw resulted in pools that will provide us with exciting games in both Barcelona and Lille. Some expected highlights:
In Barcelona:
· Pool D features an EHL regular alongside two newcomers to the competition, with English champions Beeston facing first timers Harvestehuder THC (GER) and Cardiff & Met (WAL). Harvestehuder will be considered Beeston’s biggest rivals to top the pool, while it looks to be a baptism of fire for Cardiff, the first ever Welsh team to qualify for the EHL.
· In Pool E, Spanish giants RC Polo de Barcelona will be challenged by Surbiton HC (ENG) and SV Arminen (AUT). Surbiton have long been considered to be one of the most gifted teams in England, and will be looking forward to challenging themselves against their Spanish and Austrian opponents.
In Lille:
· Host club Lille MHC face a huge battle to fight their way out of Pool A, with Dutch champions and pre-tournament favourites H.C. Rotterdam (NED) and EHL ever-presents Reading HC (ENG) standing in their way of a place at the upcoming KO16 event. However, the home favourites will be determined to show that they are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with the European elite, and will be heavily supported by a partisan crowd.
· Pool B features German champions KTHC Rot-Weiss Köln up against Dutch newcomers SV Kampong and SC Stroitel Brest of Belarus. The squads of Köln and Kampong are packed full of international talent including several Gold and Silver medallists from the London 2012 Olympics, and their match-up is expected to be one of the highlights of Round 1.
· Another clash of the giants takes place in Pool C, with Belgian champions Waterloo Ducks aiming to get the better of nine times European champions HTC Uhlenhorst Mülheim of Germany. The Pool also features AZS Politechnika Poznanska (POL), who will be looking to cause an upset against their illustrious opponents and claim a place in the second phase.
The complete draw, venues and match schedule can be found by clicking here.
Source: Euro Hockey League media release
