Finland will host the Powerchair Hockey European Championship 2020, June 1st- 8th, at the Pajulahti Olympic & Paralympic Training Center, Lahti. The match days will be June 3rd – 7th.
The top eight European Powerchair Hockey nations will be represented at the event. Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Finland have already secured their place in the tournament. The last place will be decided between the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Spain in the qualification tournament held in Praque in October 2019.
This will be the third time that the major Powerchair Hockey event is held in Finland. The first World Championship was organised in Helsinki on 2004 where Finland finished fifth. The 2012 European Championship was also held in Pajulahti. Then the hosts claimed bronze medals.
Overall Finland has won three bronze medals in Powerchair Hockey: European Championship bronze in 2012 and World Championship bronze in 2010 and 2014. Finland had to settle for seventh place in the 2016 European Championship and they didn’t qualify for the 2018 World Championship.
– Even though Finland hasn’t been among the top teams in recent years, the team has made steady progress and built their way back to the top. There are several quite even teams in Powerchair Hockey at the moment and I’m confident Finland will be one of the contestants for the medals in their home soil, says Timo Pelkonen, the Secretary General of the Pajulahti European Championship.
Powerchair Hockey is a variation of floorball but the top nations are quite different to floorball. Italy is the reigning World Champion, the Netherlands is defending their European Championship gold medals and Denmark is the number one team in the World ranking at the moment. In Sweden the Powerchair Hockey is virtually not existing at the moment.
– There are two major international floorball events in Finland in 2020: the Men’s World Championships in Helsinki in December and the Powerchair Hockey European Championship in Pajulahti in June. This is a great opportunity to make this sport known amongst the floorball family both in Finland and abroad, says Timo Pelkonen.
Previous Powerchair Hockey Championships medals
- 2004 Helsinki, Finland, the 1st World Championship: 1) the Netherlands, 2) Germany, 3) Italy
- 2005, Rome, Italy, the 1st European Championship: 1) the Netherlands, 2) Germany, 3) Italy
- 2008, Maasmechelin, Belgium, the 2nd European Championship: 1) the Netherlands, 2) Germany, 3) Italy
- 2010, Lignano, Italy, the 2nd World Championship: 1) Germany, 2) the Netherlands, 3) Finland
- 2012, Pajulahti, Finland, the 3rd European Championship: 1) the Netherlands, 2) Belgium, 3) Finland
- 2014, München, Germany, the 3rd World Championship: 1) the Netherlands, 2) Belgium, 3) Finland
- 2016, De Rijp, the Netherlands, the 4th European Championship: 1) the Netherlands, 2) Italy, 3) Germany
- 2018, Lignano, Italy, the 4th World Championship: 1) Italy, 2) Denmark, 3) the Netherlands
- 2020, Pajulahti, Finland, the 5th European Championship
Further information:
Secretary General, Mr. Timo Pelkonen, tel. +358 50 596 5015, timo.pelkonen@vammaisurheilu.fi
Media Manager, Mr. Lauri Jaakkola, tel. +358 45 136 8695, lauri.jaakkola@vammaisurheilu.fi
