England men and women both hopeful of success ahead of start of EuroHockey Championships

One glance at the women’s podiums at the Rio Olympics and last summer’s World Cup suggests that the EuroHockey Championships, which start in earnest on Saturday, will be one of the most keenly contested in recent history.

Both major tournaments finished as a European 1-2-3 and with only one Tokyo 2020 berth up for grabs across both men’s and women’s events here, no team wants to be left with the lottery of an Olympic two-legged play-off match in the autumn come Sunday week.

That is potentially Great Britain’s fate, if England fail to regain the tournament they won so thrillingly against the Dutch four years ago.

“There is so much to win and gain,” forward Lily Owsley said yesterday. “We’ve got a tough group and this is the biggest tournament we’ve had in a year [since the World Cup in London].

“There are no easy games. This is like a World Cup and you can’t ease your way into the tournament.”

Their opening pool game is against Ireland on Sunday, the surprise world silver medallists, before Germany and Belarus stand in the way of a semi-final place.

Meanwhile, Owsley would like nothing better than to banish the disappointment of exiting in the World Cup last eight. She will do so with the Bristolian having been heralded by coach Mark Hager as one of the world’s top five players after her Pro League performances this year.

“I was loving the Pro League and the style of hockey under Mark and the role I can play in it is equally exciting for me,” she added. “I hope I can take momentum from that and that is also a lot of confidence from me to take to have that backing from a coach.”

England men, meanwhile, start their campaign this morning against Wales, at world No 25 the lowest-ranked nation here, who are also returning to Europe’s A Division for the first time since 1999.

England are returning to the continent for the first time since finishing fourth at June’s FIH Pro League Grand Finals in Amsterdam.

Their semi-final defeat by Australia finished in controversy when a Kookaburra player knocked down midfielder Harry Martin at a penalty corner, which resulted in a bloody forehead to the Englishman and no further action taken by world hockey chiefs.

Nevertheless, England are a physical side these days, while symmetry lies in coach Danny Kerry having forged a relationship with his rugby counterpart, Eddie Jones, since Rio 2016. Kerry took his squad to Pennyhill Park, England rugby’s training ground, prior to departure for Belgium, where midfielder David Ames admitted that the hockey players were “out of our depth when it came to the gym”.

Ames said: “A few of us looked like school kids compared to Joe Marler and Courtney Lawes and I felt a little bit intimidated.”

Having also finished fourth at December’s World Cup, England should not be underestimated as they chase their first major silverware since winning the European title a decade ago. Ames added: “Not many people expected us to finish fourth at the World Cup and the Pro League. It’s a real gelling process for us.”

Current captain Adam Dixon and Ashley Jackson, playing his first major championships since the Rio Olympics, are the sole survivors from England’s title winners from 2009. This weekend will have a bearing on their 2019 hopes; they also take on world champions Belgium on Sunday night.

Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, support women’s hockey  from grass roots level through to the national team. For more information visit investec.co.uk/hockey