This weekend sees hockey's 'Indoor Insanity' continue with a number of high profile events taking place across the world.
England's Jaffa Super 6s Indoor Finals return on Sunday 28 January in what will be a hugely entertaining and action-packed event in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park's Copper Box Arena. Rio 2016 Olympic Gold medallists Kate Richardson-Walsh, Helen Richardson-Walsh and Sam Quek will all be in action. The action begins at 10:45 when East Grinstead take on Leicester in the first semi-final before Bowdon Hightown and Holcombe go head to head in the second semi-final at 12:00. The men’s semi-finals get under way at 13:15 as Wimbledon play Team Bath Buccaneers with East Grinstead and Surbiton battling it out for a place in the final at 14:30. The Women’s Championship final begins at 15:45 ahead of the Men’s Championship Final at 17:15. With the Vitality Hockey Women’s World Cup being held in London between the 21 July and 5 August, the trophy will be in attendance on site as will Great Britain and England goalkeepers Maddie Hinch and George Pinner. Tickets for the finals at the Copper Box Arena are still available and can be bought here.
This event will be broadcast live on the BBC Sport website and app and can also be viewed via the Red Button on connected TVs. Viewers around the world will also be able to view all the action via https://www.eurohockeytv.org.
The fight for Germany’s men's indoor hockey championship in 2018 continues this weekend. Many hockey fans will be able to see a star ensemble which include defending champions Rot-Weiss Cologne who will be the favourites for the title once again. However there’s a number of other teams who will have legitimate hopes of glory. These include Alster, who qualified from the North Group ahead of strong competition from UHC and HTHC. Their opponent is Mannheim HC who beat them 4-3 in last year’s semi-finals. The full line-up in the men’s competition is as follows:
27 January 2018:
16:00: Berlin HC v Krefeld
16:15: Alster v Mannheim HC
17:00: TSV Mannheim v UHC Hamburg
28 January 2018
14:00: RW Cologne v BW Berlin
The battle for the German women's Indoor Hockey Championship has also reached the quarter-finals. With the winners reaching the final four and the losers exiting the competition, its all to play for this weekend. With last year’s champions UHC Hamburg already out the competition, there will be a new winner this year. Like their men’s team, Alster are amongst one of the favourites for the title whilst Rüsselsheim return to this stage of the competition for the first time in six years. The match between Berlin HC and Uhlenhorst Mülheim is certainly going to be an interesting encounter as will Mannheim who play Harvestehuder. The full women’s fixtures are as follows:
27 January 2018
14:00: Alster v Rüsselsheim
14:00: Berlin HC v Mülheim
14:00: Düsseldorfer HC v Leipzig
14:00: Mannheim HC v Harvestehude
For more information on German hockey, click here.
On Saturday, the top men’s indoor hockey teams in the Netherlands will play their ninth and tenth matches in the last rounds of their national indoor competition. The results this weekend will determine which teams participate in the play-offs for the national championship and which teams will be relegated. In Pool A, leaders Amsterdam can still miss the play-offs if they lose to both Kampong and Schaerweijde on Saturday. Cartouche must then win from Reigers, Almere from Kampong and Cartouche and Almere then have to play against each other later in the day. Considering both Almere and Cartouche also have at least eleven goals to make up on Amsterdam in the league, this scenario is however not very likely. That duel, Cartouche v Almere at 16:00, could determine the second play-off spot. Currently both teams have fifteen points. Even Kampong can still get the play-offs in theory. The Utrechters have thirteen points, but remain dependent on the results of the other teams. At the bottom, Reigers and Schaerweijde divide who is relegated immediately and who plays in the relegation play-outs. At 16:00, the teams meet each other in a direct game, which in all likelihood will determine who will descend to the next tier.
In Pool B it is a lot less exciting. Hdm and Den Bosch have already qualified for the play-offs. De Hagenaars are four points ahead of Den Bosch, which means that in theory they can still relinquish first place. At the bottom, USHC is the almost certain to be relegated. The Utrecht students are two wins and a lot of goals behind fourth placed Union. On paper an escape for the students is possible however which team goes to the relegation play-outs is still difficult to determine. Union seems to have the 'best' statistics on paper, three points behind Rotterdam and four from SCHC. If Union takes at least three points and works very well on the goal difference in the matches against SCHC and USHC, there is still an escape possible.
The Dutch women’s indoor hockey league is also taking place with a number of fixtures taking place this weekend. To find out more about all the Dutch indoor action, visit hockey.nl.
Lots more hockey is taking place across the world this weekend. To find out if any matches are taking place in your local area, contact your National Association.
The Indoor Hockey World Cup begins in only a couple of weeks time, on 7 February in Berlin, Germany. The latest ticket news can be found here.
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