Sep 02

The draw for the first rounds of the highly-anticipated second season of the Euro Hockey League has taken place at a specially organised luncheon in The Netherlands.

The draw – held at Brasserie Paardenburg in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel – was made by European Hockey Federation Vice President Martin Gotheridge and was hosted by EHF Competitions Manager Steve Catton. Representatives from many of the 24 clubs involved attended the luncheon to find out who their teams would be playing in this years’ event.

Round 1a will take place in The Netherlands at Amsterdam H&BC, and features the teams drawn into Pools A, B, C and D. Poland’s KS Pocztowiec Poznan have been given a tough draw in Pool A, facing Germany’s Club an der Alster and last years’ semi finalists Club Egara from Spain. Pool B will be contested by St Germain of France, Germany’s Dusseldorfer HC and HC Bra of Italy. In Pool C, Amsterdam H&BC will be hoping to make home advantage count when they face Poland’s WKS Grunwald Poznan and Ukraine’s Olimpia Kolos Sekvoia, while Dutch side HC Bloemendaal will play Cannock HC (England) and Dinamo Kazan (Russia) in Pool D.

Round 1b, featuring the teams in Pools E, F, G and H, will be played at a venue that will be announced in the next few days. 2007/08 semi finalists HC Rotterdam will play English champions Reading HC and Western Wildcats of Scotland in what looks to be an exciting Pool E. Scotland and England come together once again in Pool F, with Azzurri Kelburne and East Grinstead aiming to qualify ahead of Belgium’s Waterloo Ducks. 2007/08 EHL Champions UHC Hamburg – also known as Uhlenhorster – have been drawn against Spanish giants RC de Polo de Barcelona as well as Lille MHC of France. Pool H completes the draw, with Belgium’s KHC Leuven, Spain’s Atletic Terrassa and Three Rock Rovers of Ireland all aiming to qualify for Round 2.

Following the draw, the club representatives were involved in a marketing workshop devised by EHL creators PRO SPORT, which was well received by all present.

Last years’ tournament was seen as a huge success, and judging by the draw this year could be even better.

The draw in full:

Round 1a: Amsterdam H&BC Date: 24 – 26 October 2008

Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
Der Club an der Alster (GER)	St Germain (FRA)	WKS Grunwald Poznan (POL)	HC Bloemendaal (NED)
Club Egara (ESP)	Dusseldorfer (GER)	Amsterdam H&BC (NED)	Cannock (ENG)
KS Pocztowiec Poznan (POL)	HC Bra (ITA)	Olimpia Kolos Sekvoia (UKR)	Dinamo Kazan (RUS)

Round 1b: To be confirmed Date: 31 October – 2 November 2008

Pool E	Pool F	Pool G	Pool H
Reading HC (ENG)	Azzurri Kelburne (SCO)	RC de Polo de Barcelona (ESP)	KHC Leuven (BEL)
HC Rotterdam (NED)	East Grinstead (ENG)	UHC Hamburg (GER)	Atletic Terrassa (ESP)
Western Wildcats (SCO)	Waterloo Ducks (BEL)	Lille MHC (FRA)	Three Rock Rovers (IRE)

In Round 1, each club will play the other two teams once over a three day period. The top two clubs in each Pool will progress to Round 2, which will be played 10 - 13 April 2008, at a venue yet to be decided. The club finishing third in each pool will be eliminated from the competition. Pool winners from Round 1 will be seeded in the draw for the next round.

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