A number of the Games heroes were set to be on show this weekend, including Britain's London 2012 trio Ashley Jackson, Glenn Kirkham and Jonty Clarke, as well as their international teammates the Mantell brothers, Richard and Simon, Mark Pearn (pictured above) and Niall Stott.

Joining the British contingent were top teams from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Austria and Ireland.

Among their ranks, members of Germany's Olympic gold medal winning team and Dutch silver medal winning pair Teun de Nooijer and Robbert Kemperman were set to compete.

Simon Mantell (right) competes against KHC Dragons' players on day two of the Euro Hockey League in England

Ahead of the tournament, Sally Munday, chief executive of the England Hockey Board said: "It's fantastic that an event of the stature of the Euro Hockey League is going to be hosted in England just 11 weeks after the conclusion of the greatest Olympic Games in history.

"What we saw in London was a British public that truly embraced hockey as it is in the 21st century; fast, skillful and exciting."

The event follows round 1.1, held in Barcelona two weeks ago, which saw English club Beeston progress to the next round with two wins from two, including a remarkable comeback against last season's EHL runners-up Amsterdam H&BC.

This weekend, 12 more teams competed in four pools of three, with the top two in each pool progressing to the second round, KO16, in April.

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