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Today's semi-finals provided thrilling action when the Czech men wrestled down 2010 European Indoor Champions Austria to make themselves the opponents for gold of Germany. The home team struggled at the beginning of their semi-final against the Netherlands, but displayed their trademark cold-blooded efficiency in the second half, turning a 2-3 half-time lag into a 6-3 victory in which Matthias Witthaus scored two goals to bring his total tally to 9 goals in the tournament.
In the women's event, Belarus - somewhat unexpectedly given their rough start into the tournament - slipped past Poland in the first semi-final to remain in the running for the grand title, while the Dutch women went the opposite way, unable to keep up their strong early performances and giving in to a determined German side in the second semi, finalizing tomorrow's classification games as Poland taking on the Netherlands for bronze, and Belarus meeting Germany in the women's tournament final.
The first round of the women's relegation pool action pitted Austria against the Czech Republic, with the two teams drawing 2-2, and saw Spain secure three important points in a narrow win over the Ukraine, which puts them in the best position of all teams in Pool C to maintain indoor A status tomorrow.
The battle to avoid relegation on the men's side took its course today with Spain defeating a tired looking Russian side to reach the safe zone, while the Swiss recorded their first victory of the event with a win over England which makes England's bid to stay amongst Europe's top 8 a supremely difficult mission.
The day's earlier round of matches, the last round of pool matches of the EuroHockey Indoor Championships had started with early morning surprises as the Dutch women caved in to the previously struggling Belarussian side, and the Polish women celebrated a well-earned win against the German hosts to win their pool.
The Ukrainian women had defeated Austria, but couldn't escape the relegation pool, courtesy of the Belarussians' victory over the Netherlands, while the Spanish women had drawn with the Czech, a result they took with them into pool C.
The German men had recorded another big number win - and the first double digits in the event - when they cruised past Spain 11-1, while Austria had defeated Switzerland to claim the number 2 spot behind Germany in the men's pool A.
In pool B, Russia and England had produced the last pool round's most dramatic encounter, with Russia pulling ahead 4-0 and later 7-1 before the match took an incredible turn, and England pulled level for an 8:8 final result - mostly thanks to an outstanding performance from Ashley Jackson who singlehandedly scored 6 of England's 8 goals.
Their sensational comeback still wasn't enough to save the English from the relegation pool, taking Russia with them, as the Czech Republic and the Netherlands settled for a strategic 2-2 draw that saw both of them through to the semi-finals.
Semi-finals Men
Austria - Czech Republic 2:3 (1:1)
Germany - Netherlands 6:3 (2:3)
Semi-finals Women
Belarus - Poland 2:1 (1:1)
Netherlands - Germany 1:4 (1:2)
Pool C Men
1. Spain - 6 points - 9:3 goals
2. Switzerland - 3 points - 5:8 goals
3. Russia - 1 point - 10:11 goals
4. England - 1 point - 10:12 goals
Switzerland - England 4:2 (2:0)
Spain - Russia 3:2 (1:1)
Pool C Women
1. Spain - 4 points - 7:6 goals
2. Ukraine - 3 points - 7:6 goals
2. Czech Republic - 2 points - 6:6 goals
4. Austria - 1 point - 5:7 goals
Austria - Czech Republic 2:2 (1:0)
Ukraine - Spain 2:3 (1:3)
Pool A Men
1. Germany - 9 points - 22:4 goals
2. Austria - 6 points - 10:4 goals
3. Spain - 3 points - 8:19 goals
4. Switzerland - 0 points - 4:18 goals
Germany - Spain 11:1 (2:1)
Austria - Switzerland 3:1 (3:0)
Pool B Men
1. Czech Republic - 6 points - 7:6 goals
2. Netherlands - 5 points - 13:12 goals
3. Russia - 5 points - 20:20 goals
4. England - 3 points - 22:24 goals
Russia - England 8:8 (4:1)
Czech Republic - Netherlands 2:2 (0:1)
Pool A Women
1. Netherlands - 6 points - 11:8 goals
2. Belarus - 6 points - 9:8 goals
3. Ukraine - 4 points - 12:14 goals
4. Austria - 3 points - 8:10 goals
Ukraine - Austria 5:3 (4:2)
Belarus - Netherlands 3:1 (2:1)
Pool B Women
1. Poland - 6 points - 14:9 goals
2. Germany - 6 points - 10:9 goals
3. Spain - 4 points - 10:10 goals
4. Czech Republic - 1 points - 8:14 goals
Spain - Czech Republic 4:4 (1:2)
Germany - Poland 3:5 (1:3)
