Tuesday, February 22, 2011

FIH World hockey League


The FIH today took a critical step in developing its next major competition after sending out letters of invitation to teams wishing to participate in the FIH World League.

The FIH World League is set to make its debut in 2012 and will give every member of the FIH the opportunity to play for a place in the FIH World Cup or the Olympic Games. During the 2012-2013 period, the World League will qualify four teams directly into the 2014 FIH World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands.

“We are delighted to be moving ahead with the World League competition,” said FIH Chief Executive Officer Kelly Fairweather. “We have long wanted to start an international competition that goes over multiple rounds and gives every nation a change to reach our elite events. With the World League, we have just that.”

The FIH World League, which has also previously been referred to as the World Series, will be played in four rounds. The first two rounds will take place in the 2012 calendar year, while the third and fourth rounds will conclude the cycle in 2013. The event will include men and women’s teams.

Teams have until April 1st, 2011 to confirm their participation in the FIH World League.

The men’s and women’s teams ranked first through eighth in the FIH World Ranking will receive an automatic bye to Round Three. Teams ranked in the next tier, 9th-16th will get an automatic ticket to Round Two. FIH World Ranking points will be awarded at each level. The details of the points will be announced at a later date.

The number of First Round tournaments will depend entirely on the number of entries received by the FIH. This makes the World League unique in that every nation has a chance to join the road to the World Cup and/or Olympics.

“It has long been the ambition of the FIH to give every country a chance to make it to the highest possible level,” said Fairweather. “The World League gives the smaller nations valuable international experience, while allowing them to have the chance to play the role of David against some of the Goliath countries.”

It is expected that the first round of competition will be kept as local as possible to keep travel costs to a minimum. To this end, FIH will be working closely with its five Continental Federations to organize these tournaments. Those teams making it to Round Two will join the 9th-16th ranked nations in a more regional event that may include teams from varying continents.

At the end of Round Two, eight teams will move onto Round Three to join the top eight teams that are automatically qualified. The third round will then be played in two groups of eight.

Finally in 2013, the champion will be crowned in a final round. The number of teams qualified will be determined by if the host made it through the qualification process.

While the host nations for the first two rounds have yet to be determined, those for Rounds Three and Four were already decided by the FIH Executive Board. They are:

Men’s Women’s
3A Pakistan (Feb. 2013) The Netherlands (June 2013)
3B Germany (June 2013) China (June 2013)
4 India (September 2013) Argentina (December 2013)


According to the current FIH World Ranking, the following teams would receive the byes through the Rounds Two or Three:


Men’s teams ranked 1 – 8 (bye to Round 3)
Australia, Germany, Netherlands, England, Spain, Korea, New Zealand and Pakistan

Men’s teams ranked 9 – 16 (bye to Round 2)
India, Canada, Argentina, South Africa, Belgium, China, Malaysia and Japan

Women’s teams ranked 1 – 8 (bye to Round 3)
Argentina, Netherlands, Germany, China, England, Australia, New Zealand and Korea

Women’s teams ranked 9 – 16 (bye to Round 2)
Japan, Spain, India, South Africa, USA, Azerbaijan, Ireland and Chile

Monday, February 14, 2011

FIH INDOOR HOCKEY WORLD CUP FINALS WOMEN'S RESULTS


Women – Final – Netherlands vs. Germany: 2-4

Dream Final for this 2011 FIH Indoor World Cup between the last two winners: The Netherlands, winner 4 years ago in Vienna, and Germany, winner of the original Indoor World Cup in 2003. Both teams cruised undefeated through the pools and convincingly won their Semi-Final here in Poznan.


Final Standings - Women
1. Germany
2. Netherlands
3. Ukraine
4. Belarus
5. Poland
6. Czech Republic
7. Austria
8. Australia
9. Argentina
10. Namibia
11. Uruguay
12. Kazakhstan

Tournament Awards - Women
Player of the tournament: Belle van MEER (Netherlands)
Top Scorer: Belle van MEER (Netherlands), 11 goals
Best Goalkeeper: Barbara VOGEL (Germany)
Best U-21 player: Paulina OKAJ (Poland)

FIH INDOOR HOCKEY WORLD CUP FINALS MEN'S RESULTS


Men - Final – Germany v. Poland: 3-2

For the third time in the short history of the Indoor World Cup, Germany and Poland met in the Final. They have clearly been the class of the tournament here in Poznan and met earlier in pool play in a thriller that ended in favour of the home team (3-2). Poland had to fend off a strong challenge from Austria in Semi-Final while Germany had an easy task to get past Russia.

Final Standings Men
1. Germany
2. Poland
3. Austria
4. Russia
5. Netherlands
6. England
7. Australia
8. Czech Republic
9. Iran
10. Canada
11. USA
12. Namibia

Tournament Awards - Men
Player of the Tournament: Dariusz RACHWALSKI (Poland)
Top Scorer: Robert TIGGES (Netherlands), 16 goals
Best Goalkeeper: Mariusz CHYLA (Poland)
Best U-21 Player: Patrick SCHMIDT (Austria)

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

INDOOR HOCKEY WORLD CUP 08th FEB RESULTS


The FIH Indoor World Cup has got underway in Poznan, Poland, with the crowds enjoying plenty of goals on the first day. Germany men in particular were on fire, netting 18 goals against Namibia, while Belarus women also moved into double figures in their triumph over the Africans. However, host nation Poland delighted the home supporters with victories for both their men’s and women’s teams.

Men Russia - USA 6:2 (3:1)
Women Czech R. - Austria 1:0 (0:0)
Men Austria - Iran 5:1 (2:0)
Women Netherlands - Kazakhstan 9:0 (4:0)
Men Germany - Namibia 18:0 (7:0)
Women Ukraine - Argentina 2:1 (1:0)
Men Czech R. - England 1:2 (0:0)
Women Germany - Uruguay 2:0 (2:0)
Women Australia - Poland 1:2 (0:1)
Women Belarus - Namibia 12:0 (6:0)
Men Poland - Australia 3:1 (2:1)
Men Netherlands - Canada 5:1 (1:0)

Monday, February 7, 2011

FIH INDOOR WORLD CUP STARTS TODAY


The FIH INDOOR WORLD CUP- POZNAN 2011 begins on Tuesday 8th February 2011 at 12.30 (GMT +1), with the men of Russia and the USA being the first teams to take to the field on Pitch 1. To find out more information about the FIH Indoor World Cup 2011, please visit the tournament website: http://www.poznan2011.sportcentric.com .

Sunday, February 6, 2011

KUMAR IS ASIA'S BEST GOALKEEPER


Malaysian goalkeeper S. Kumar was today named as Asia's best player by the Asian Hockey Federation at its Congress held in Kuala Lumpur.

The 32 year old was the first Malaysian to win the award as prior to this Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin was awarded the Best Youth Player award.
It was indeed a surprise for Kumar, who has been adjudged the best goalkeeper in eight international tournaments.

The year 2010 was a mixed year for Kumar who lost his father, Subramaniam, in the midst of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
But he went on to represent Malaysia at the Asian Games, where Malaysia won the silver medal, their first ever such medal in the Asian Games.
"It is indeed a honour that I will cherish and I dedicate this award to my late father who encouraged me right from the begining," said Kumar.
"Without the sacrifices of my father, I will not be here today.
"My dream is to play at the Olympics and the next one year will be difficult as Malaysia needs to prepare well for the qualifiers."

ASIAN HOCKEY FEDERATION AWARDS

SULTAN AZLAN SHAH AWARD
Thailand Hockey Association

MEMBER OF HONOUR
Dato’ Seri Muneyoshi Ueda – Japan

ORDER OF MERIT
Mr. Mathavan Devadas – Singapore

AHF PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR MAN
Mr. Lei Jun – China

AHF PRESIDENT’S AWARD FOR WOMAN
Ms. Shun Jun Hee – Korea

AHF PLAYERS AWARD – 2009
Man – You Hyo Sik (Korea)
Woman – Baorung Fu (China)
Boy – Muhammad Tooseeq (Pakistan)
Girl – Mazuki Arai (Japan)

AHF PLAYERS AWARD – 2010
Man – S. Kumar (Malaysia)
Woman – Park Mih Yun (Korea)
Boy – Syed Kashif Shah (Pakistan)
Girl – Zhao Yudiao