Scotland Claim Silver, Wales Finish Fourth At EuroHockey Championships II

Scotland's men returned home from their EuroHockey Championships II campaign with a silver medal after losing to Austria on a shootout following a 1-1 draw, while Wales' women finished in fourth place after being beaten 4-1 by Poland.

Following their stunning comeback victory over Ireland in the semi-finals, Scotland were looking to carry that momentum into the final against Austria, a side they had lost to 2-1 in the group stages.

After the first half finished goalless, Struan Walker - who only made his Scotland debut in the first game of the tournament - bagged his third goal of the competition to give his side the lead in the 36th minute.

Dominic Uher then struck for Austria just eight minutes from time to see the game end level and take the sides into a shootout. Both sides missed just once in their five regulation efforts, taking the contest into sudden death where Austria would eventually prevail 7-6 winners.

Searching for their first medal in the event since 2009, Wales went into their bronze medal match with Poland hoping to overturn a narrow 2-1 loss in the group stages.

The contest was a close affair for much of the first half until Magdalena Zagajska gave Poland the lead in the 24th minute. 

By the time the half-time whistle sounded six minutes later, Poland had increased their lead to three goals thanks to Marlena Rybacha and Martyna Wypijewska.

Eloise Laity pulled one back for Wales in the 38th minute but a fourth goal for the Polish outfit from Wiktoria Blaszyk sealed victory for her team.

By finishing in the top five of their respective competitions, both the Scottish and Welsh teams have reached the European Qualifiers for the upcoming World Cups. 

Wales join Scotland in their tournament for the women's event, taking place between 21-24 October 2021, with the team who wins that tournament going on to place in the 2022 Women's Hockey World Cup in Spain and The Netherlands.

The top two teams from the men's qualifier - which will run at the same time - will go on to play at the 2023 Men's Hockey World Cup in India, with both Scotland and Wales in the draw.

Furthermore, both teams from Scotland and Wales will also contest the EuroHockey Qualifying Tournaments in August 2022 to qualify for the top tier 2023 EuroHockey Championships.