02 Mar, 2025 New Zealand claimed the Nations Cup title after a thrilling 1-1 draw against Ireland, securing victory in a 4-2 shootout. Chile won bronze with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the USA. Scotland finished 5th after a strong 2-0 win over Japan, while Korea defeated Canada 2-0 to avoid last place. Korea 2-0 Canada In the battle for 7th place, Korea took on The Canadian Wolfpack in the first match of the day. To begin the game, the Canadians looked the most threatening they have been all tournament, pouring on the pressure and creating circle entries. The Wolfpack seemed to be energized by the possibility of relegation and their veteran defender Kathleen Leahy reaching 100 caps. Korea increased their intensity in the second quarter, they had a shot on goal denied by the post, and finally a goal just before half time by Dabin Jeong who fired a low hard shot through the Canadian keeper’s legs. Korea then finished another penalty corner in the 34th minute by Seungae Park to put them ahead by two goals. The Canadians had hope at the end of the third quarter when a long video referral decision landed them a penalty corner. Thora Rae was able to pop the ball into the net past the Korean keeper. Unfortunately, the goal was called back, leaving Canada with zero goals, and Korea taking 7th place with a 2-0 win. Player of the match Seungae Park shared some thoughts post-game: “We lost four matches, but this is the last match and we won so I am happy!”. ©FIH/WorldSportPics Japan 0-2 Scotland Japan took on Scotland for the battle for 5th place in the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup. The last time these two sides faced off was nine years ago. As both teams were relatively unfamiliar with their opponents, neither team wanted to give up too much in the first half. The main highlight came from Japan, when Kaneko broke free on a counterattack and was face to face with Jessica Buchannan, the Scotland keeper. Kaneko’s speed was too much as she lost control of the ball as it rolled over the baseline. After six penalty corner attempts, Scotland opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, with a hard shot from the top of the circle from Amy Costello. Scotland furthered their lead as Ellie Mackenzie ran end to end, she drove the ball hard into the circle where Fiona Burnet received the ball, tuned, and smashed it low and hard past the Japanese keeper. With this win, Scotland place 5th in the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup. The Scottish team are happy with their 5th place finish in their first appearance in the Nations Cup as Rebecca Birch describes: “We learned just to trust our game plan and to trust each other on the ball and working off the ball. We really made that a big impact and things happened, and it all worked out!” ©FIH/WorldSportPics Chile 2-1 USA The bronze medal match brought together two teams who faced each other just days ago. It was a tightly contested first half between Chile and USA, with Las Diablas opening the scoring in the second quarter. It was a frustrating half for the Americans, as they had plenty of chances, yet they could not find the back of the net. Finally in the fourth quarter the USA squeezed one by the experienced Chilean keeper, with a quick reverse shot by Sanne Caarls in the 51st minute. Chile quickly responded with high pressure and caught the American defenders off guard deep in their own circle. Fernanda Arrieta managed to poach the ball off an American defender just inches from the goal line, and pop it into the net. Despite receiving two yellow cards in the last six minutes of play, the home team was able to hold on to their lead to win the bronze medal on home soil. Fernanda Flores (CHI) shared some thoughts on Las Diablas’ tournament overall: “It was not easy because we really dreamed of the Pro League and top ten. But we are very proud of the team and the staff, we have a full change of staff since last year. It’s not easy but we are moving in the right direction.” ©FIH/WorldSportPics New Zealand 1-1 (4-2) Ireland The much-anticipated gold match between New Zealand and Ireland was a back-and-forth battle. Both teams understanding the stakes of the match left it all out on the pitch. Even Lucianna Aymar, record 8 -time winner of the FIH Player of the Year, was in attendance for the match. The Black Sticks opened the scoring in the first quarter with Emila Surridge scoring in the 6th minute. The remaining quarters were fairly even, with both teams sharing possession. The Green Army pulled their goalie with six minutes remaining in the match. This proved to be successful as Kathryn Mullan fired a shot past The Black Sticks keeper to tie up the match 1-1. Regulation time ended in a draw, forcing the match to a shootout. New Zealand proved to be more clinical in the shootout, winning 4-2 and taking home the gold medal in the Nations Cup! Holly Pearson (NZL) earned player of the match and shared some thoughts post-match: “Obviously during the match we were up 1-0 for majority of the game. But in the second half Ireland really put us under the pump and scoring that goal was tough for us. But yeah, very happy to get the win in the shootout. It’s something we have been practicing for a long time”. To see the final standings in the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup click here FIH Women’s Nations Cup – 3 February 2025 Centro Deportivo de Hockey Césped, Estadio Nacional, Santiago Chile Korea 2-0 Canada Player of the match: Seungae Park (KOR) Officials: Steven Bakker (NED), Melissa Taylor (RSA), Zoe Hall (ENG – video) Japan 0-2 Scotland Player of the match: Charlotte Watson (SCO) Officials: Victoria Pazos (PAR), Federico Silva

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24 Feb, 2025 The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is delighted to announce that the third edition of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup (men) will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from 15-21 June 2025. The tournament involves the following eight participating teams, with the winners qualifying for the 2025-26 FIH Hockey Pro League: France Japan Korea Malaysia New Zealand Pakistan South Africa Wales This line-up is particularly impressive, with all teams but Pakistan having participated in the last FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup in 2023. Commenting on the announcement, Subahan bin Kamal, the president of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation said: “The Malaysian Hockey Confederation is delighted and privileged to host the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2024-25 in Kuala Lumpur. We are grateful to FIH in entrusting us to host this amazing event for the very first time. We are excited and believe this tournament will definitely bring the best of world hockey talents to Malaysia. We would also like to thank our Honourable Sports Minister Ms Hannah Yeoh in supporting our effort in hosting this event.” FIH President Tayyab Ikram added: “It’s a true delight to go back to Malaysia with one of our major events. Our hosts have always been wonderful hockey tournament organisers and the same will prevail again for this Men’s Nations Cup that will qualify the winners for the next edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League! On behalf of FIH, I’d like to extend our sincerest gratitude to our Malaysian friends. I already wish everyone, and first and foremost the athletes, to make the most of this experience to grow, and reach the next level!”. The FIH Hockey Nations Cup was launched in 2021 with the aim of offering a top-level competition to the best-ranked teams not participating in the FIH Hockey Pro League and giving the winning team the option to be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League the next season, precisely. The first two editions were played in Potchefstroom, South Africa (2022) and Gniezno, Poland (2024). The inaugural Nations Cup (men) was won by South Africa, the following one by New Zealand. All information about the FIH Hockey Nations Cup is available here.

23 Feb, 2025 A stellar offensive and defensive effort from Scotland in the final against Egypt saw them come away with a 4-2 win to claim the inaugural FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 title and the promotion to the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2026. Earlier in the day, Poland edged past USA in the shoot-outs following an engaging 2-2 draw in the regulation time, to win the bronze medal. Austria and Chile were also winner in the classification matches over China and Oman in the 5/6th place match and the 7/8th place matches respectively. 7/8 Place: Oman 1 – 2 Chile The 7/8 place classification game started with an early goal from Chile as a shot from Kay Gesswein took an unfortunate deflection off Al Shaaibi and went past the wrong footed keeper. The game was played in an end-to-end fashion with Chile holding more possession, but Oman created some good chances, including two penalty corners, and went close from both of them, but could not find the target. Chile almost doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime but Felipe Richard’s shot hit the post and went wide with Chile taking a 1-0 lead into the break. Oman continued to improve as the game went on and their work in the third quarter was rewarded as a string of penalty corners finally helped them open the scoring as captain, and centurion on the day, Khalid Al Shaaibi injected the ball on the set piece got to the near post and deflected the shot in, to mark his milestone with a goal. It was Chile however who got the winner as an attempted clearance by the Oman defence fell to Alvaro Garcia, who did well to bring the ball under his control and smash a shot past the keeper to earn Chile a win in their final match at the event. Juan Amoroso was awarded player of the match and said: “That was a tough match in the hot conditions against the home side that played with so much energy. In the end it was good to get those two goals and end the tournament with a win.” 5/6 Place: China 1 – 3 Austria The first half was a tale of Chinese dominance and two penalty corners. The first one was scored by China in the opening quarter through Gao Jiesheng. The goal was the only conversion by China from their 7 penalty corners in the opening half. Austria’s equaliser also came from a penalty corner in a dramatic fashion. They won the set piece with 2 seconds left on the clock and while their initial attempt was stopped on the line, China stopped playing while the ball was still inside the circle, and a sharp steal by Austria led to Moritz Frey steering the ball into an empty goal while the Chinese defence stood shell shocked. Austria used the momentum from their late equaliser in the first half to make a much better start to the second. Their early pressure paid off with Moritz Frey receiving a long aerial in the Chinese circle and getting a powerful reverse shot on target beyond the keeper to give the Red Capricorns the lead. As China threw more and more player into attack in search of the equaliser, Austria scored a third from a counter attack with Josef Winkler and Nikolas Wellan playing one-twos around the keeper, leaving Wellan with an empty goal to tap the ball into. Moritz Frey was awarded player of the match for his two goals that helped Austria get the win and get the 5th place in the competition. Bronze: USA 2 – 2 Poland (Shoot-out: USA 1-3 Poland) Two evenly matched sides in USA and Poland produced fantastic hockey in the opening quarter, but a grave error from Mendoza on the edge of the USA circle, as he tried to play a no-look pass to his teammate led to the opening goal for Poland. The attempted pass went straight to the waiting stick of Koperski, who took one step and buried a powerful shot from the top of the circle into the corner of the goal. That goal remained the only one to be scored in the opening half. USA started slow in the second half with the Polish side in the ascendancy. The second goal of the game also went Poland’s way after Koperski’s flick was stopped on the goal-line by the post defender’s foot and led to a penalty stroke, which was dispatched with ease by Gracjan Jarzyński who doubled the European side’s lead in the bronze medal match. USA were back level by the end of the third quarter with Aki Kaeppelar scoring from a penalty stroke and Mehtab Grewal putting the finishing touches to a great move from the left flank by Pat Harris and Charasika. With no goals coming in the final quarter despite USA’s dominance, the match headed into the shoot-outs to determine the outcome. Polish keeper Mateusz Popiołkowski was the star of the show in the shoot-outs as he stopped USA on three of their four attempts, while Poland strikers converted all three of their attempts as Poland came away winners, to become the bronze medalists at the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 Oman 2025. Final: Egypt 2 – 4 Scotland Egypt made the brighter start and kept prodding the Scottish defence, but the European side stood firm and opened the scoring from an incredibly difficult opportunity as Struan Walker received the ball on the left side of the Egyptian circle, but the narrow angle and distance from the goal did not phase him as his reverse shot found the far corner of the goal to perfection, giving Scotland the lead. The second quarter was more even in nature but once again it was Scotland who got the goals from penalty corners. The first came through a Jamie Golden drag flick that went over the keeper’s head before he could react, and the second through a Struan

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20 Feb, 2025 The final day of pool play at the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup 2 came to an end in Muscat, Oman with Egypt, Poland, Scotland and United States claiming the four semi-final spots. It will be Egypt taking on United States in the first semi-final, while Scotland will take on Poland in an all-European second semi-final tie, with the matches to be played on Saturday, 22 February, following a rest day tomorrow. Egypt 2 – 2 Poland Egypt opened the scoring in the first quarter doing what they do best, as they absorbed pressure from Poland, won the possession with a good tackle and a quick counter attack set Ziad Adel one-on-one against the keeper and he made no mistake in putting the African side into the lead. Poland’s constant pressure finally paid off midway through the second quarter as Maksymilian Koperski brought them level from a penalty corner, with the teams heading into halftime level at a goal apiece. Poland finally had the lead they were desperately searching for with Gracjan Jarzyński giving them the lead with a 48th minute field goal. Egypt ramped up the pressure to find the equaliser in the final minutes and won a string of penalty corners in the last minute of the game, the fifth of which led to a penalty stroke that was dispatched by Ahmed Elganaini bringing Egypt level with less than 20 seconds left in the game. The draw gave Egypt the top spot in the pool. Poland, through the tie, also secured their semi-final spot as the second placed team in Pool A. Maksymilian Koperski, who opened the scoring for Poland in the first half was awarded the player of the match and said: “It was a good team performance but we wanted to win this game. However, a spot in the semi-final was the first aim, so we have achieved that target.” China 2 – 1 Chile Despite both teams getting knocked out of semi-finals contention before the start of the match, China and Chile showed plenty of fight in their last pool stage match. An end to end first half saw plenty of scoring opportunities but just one goal from Luis Valenzuela as Chile headed into the break up by a goal. China were back level inside a minute into the second half, as a poor giveaway just outside their defensive circle by Juan Amoroso gave China a 3 on 2 opportunity and Deng Jingwen made the most of it with a vicious shot from the top of the circle that gave the Chilean keeper no chance. China completed the turnaround in the final quarter with Lu Yuanlin pouncing on a loose ball inside the circle and calmly pushing his shot beyond the keeper’s reach. China’s defence did the rest of the work, holding firm and claiming their first win of the competition. Chao Jieming was awarded player of the match for his industrious work in the midfield and said: “Happy to get our first win of the tournament in a tough match. We didn’t start off well with Chile applying a lot of pressure, but once we got our first goal, we were much better and finished off the game well with the final quarter goal.” USA 2 – 3 Scotland Scotland began a must win game in an incredible fashion as a long aerial from the defence found Struan Walker all alone inside the American circle and the Scottish star calmly lifted the ball with his first touch over the American keeper, and a minute later they had doubled their lead through a Jamie Golden penalty corner goal. USA were back level heading into half-time however, thanks to two penalty corner strikes by emerging star Sekayi Charasika. A win would ensure a semi-final spot for Scotland, given their superior goal difference compared to the United States, and they played with that urgency in the second half. A strong spell to start the final quarter finally led to the goal the Scots were seeking as once again it was Struan Walker who provided the goods, receiving the ball inside the circle, turning to his backhand and smashing a powerful reverse shot past the sprawling goalkeeper into the bottom corner of the goal, which would be enough to give them the lead, the win and a spot in the semi-final! Struan Walker was awarded the player of the match and speaking of his goals and his team’s path forward, said: “I think that pass from Golden (for the first goal) was pretty spectacular. I don’t overthink my game, so when I saw the opportunity I just took the shot over the keeper. We don’t know yet who our opponents in the semi-finals will be, so we will be watching the next game with great interest and let’s see how the rest of the tournament goes.” Austria 5 – 3 Oman Austria needed a 5-goal win over Oman to overtake United States on goal difference and qualify for the semi-final, but it was Oman who struck first from a penalty corner in the 11th minute of the game. Austria had plenty of chances to score in the first half, winning 7 penalty corners, but were wasteful from the set pieces and went into the break down a goal, requiring a huge second half comeback to progress their Nations Cup 2 campaign. Oman once again scored first in the second half from their second penalty corner of the game, but Austria came roaring back scoring three goals towards the end of the third quarter to revive their chances of progressing to the semi-final. Needing four more goals in the final quarter, Austria scored first, but an Oman counter attack a minute later reduced the deficit once again and put the semifinals beyond the Austrians, who added another goal at the end to win the tie 5-3, but finished behind Scotland and United States in third place of Pool B. Nikolas Wellan was awarded player of

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18 Feb, 2025 Day 2 of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 Oman 2025 witnessed more thrillers, with two strong contenders emerging in Egypt and United States, with both teams winning a second consecutive game on the trot. Egypt’s win also ensured them of a place in the semi-final that will be played on Saturday, 22 Feb, while USA are one point away from booking their place in the semi-final, as Austria’s narrow win over Scotland keeps Pool B completely open going into the final day of pool matches on Thursday, following a rest day tomorrow. China 1 – 1 Poland For the second day in a row China made a lightning quick start to the game, however, unlike against Egypt yesterday, China managed to get on the board against Poland early with Chao Jeiming scoring with a back post tap in, in the second minute of the game. While both teams created plenty of chances in the first half, no more goals were scored with both defences holding down the fort and not even conceding a penalty corner, despite multiple circle penetrations. Poland were more threatening after the break, winning 6 penalty corners over the course of the second half, but the Chinese defence, especially keeper Gu Runze stood firm and kept the Polish out until the final minute. As China looked to protect their one goal lead, Polish pressure mounted and a poor tackle by Qijun Chen with 5 seconds left on the clock gave Poland a penalty stroke which was promptly smashed in by Gracjan Jarzyński to earn Poland a crucial point at the death to take their tally to 4 points in two games. Chinese keeper Gu Runze was awarded player of the match for his stellar performance in the goal that almost led to a Chinese win, and ended up earning them their first point of the tournament. Chile 1 – 3 Egypt An end to end start to the game saw Chile capitalise, converting on their first penalty corner of the game in the 6th minute through a roaring Juan Amoroso drag flick. It took Egypt multiple circle penetrations to score their opener but when they did it was glorious with Mohamed Nasr beating 4 defenders and the goalkeeper before passing it to Ahmed Elganaini who had an open goal to tap the ball into, leveling the score at 1-1 which would hold till the half time. With a win guaranteeing a semi-final spot for Egypt, they had a huge opportunity midway through the third quarter to grab the lead through a penalty stroke, but the usually reliable Mahmoud Mamdouh put his effort wide, giving Chile a lifeline. Two penalty corner goals in the final quarter for Egypt finally put the game to bed, making Egypt the first semi-finalists at the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 Oman 2025! Mohamed Nasr who created the opening goal for Egypt with his magical run was awarded player of the match, and speaking about his assist he said: “Ahmed and I play together a lot including in club hockey so we have a really good understanding. I knew if I could get the ball to him, he would be in the right place to finish and that’s exactly what he did.” Scotland 2 – 3 Austria Scotland were the stronger of the two European sides in the opening exchanges but it took them until the 26th minute to get the lead when Jamie Golden ripped a drag flick into the top left corner from Scotland’s third penalty corner of the game. Austria made some headway late in the final minutes of the opening half through a string of penalty corners, but Scotland’s rushing ensured they entered the half with the lead. Austria didn’t have to wait long to equalise though, with Moritz Frey finding Josef Winkler who tapped the ball into an open goal less than five minutes into the second half. They also managed to snatch the lead in the final minute of the third quarter, where a busted penalty corner attempt still led to the ball ending up with captain Steyrer who converted from close range. Fulop Losonci added a third for the Red Capricorns doubling their lead in the final quarter, and while Golden scored his second to half the deficit, Scotland couldn’t find the equaliser, giving all three points in the crucial tie to Austria. USA 4 – 0 Oman Following a 10-1 loss on opening day, Oman were heavy underdogs coming into the game against USA, who looked amongst the strongest contenders on day one. But Oman gave a much better account of themselves in the opening half against USA, especially in the midfield where they played with much better control. USA still managed to get into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead, but Oman had a great chance to go level with a few seconds left in the half from a penalty corner, which was cleared off the line after an almighty scramble. Two trends from their opening match followed USA into the second game. First it was a missed penalty stroke that could have doubled their lead early in the third quarter. The second one was more positive however with Sekayi Charasika scoring from a penalty corner for a second game in a row, doubling the Americans lead in the third quarter. Charasika added a second and Motta scored in the final minute as USA came away with the three points, and just one point away from securing a semi-final spot. Sekayi Charasika was awarded the player of the match and gave a shout-out to his teammates, saying: “Really proud and happy at how the group welcomed me into the fold over the past couple of months. We started training together in December and to start the tournament with 2 wins in 2 games is a real pleasure.” To see the current standings in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2, click here. FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 – 18

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17 Feb, 2025 The opening day of the inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup 2 Oman 2025 got off to a blistering start with all 8 teams in action across 4 games that saw a combined total of 25 goals scored! In Pool A Egypt and Poland got off to winning starts, with both sides claiming three points in close encounters against China and Chile respectively. The scoreline in Poland’s 4-0 win over Chile was particularly deceptive with the game hanging on a knife’s edge until a late flurry by the Polish side. In Pool B, USA and Austria faced off in another tight battle with USA impressing in attack, but their failure to convert on a plethora of big chances meant they had to rely on their equally amazing defence in the final quarter to come away 1-0 winners. The last game of the day saw hosts Oman face off against Scotland in what turned out to be a one-sided contest with the visitors stunning the hosts with a huge 10-1 win. Egypt 5 – 4 China China started the game on the front foot creating two circle penetrations within the first two minutes, but it was Egypt who scored first through Ahmed Elganaini, catching the Chinese out with a quick counter attack, to score the first goal in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2 history! China stormed back in the second quarter with two quick fire goals to take the lead, but Egypt would not go away and two goals in the final minute of the half gave them a 3-2 lead and all the momentum going into the break. The teams continued to trade goals in the second half with China striking first to pull level, but Egypt blitzed again late in the third quarter to add two more goals and build a lead they would not lose till the final whistle. Although China made the African side sweat by pulling within one goal late in the final quarter, Egypt held on to win 5-4 and take all three points from the opening encounter. Ahmed Elganaini was awarded player of the match for his two goals that helped get Egypt over the line. Chile 0 – 4 Poland The second match of the day ushered in a more controlled style of hockey following the breathtaking action of match one. Poland were dominant in the opening half but it took them until the 17th minute to make their possession count with Tomasz Bembenek opening the scoring through a penalty corner and that would be the only goal to be scored in the opening 30 as both teams felt each other out without committing to an all out attack. Penalty corners once again proved to be the difference in the third quarter as Poland capitalised and scored from their third corner of the game, Chile failed to convert their own PCs, allowing Poland to take a 2-goal lead into the final quarter. Poland finished the game off with a second penalty corner goal of the half from Maksymilian Koperski and a field goal from Mikolaj Gumny to come away comfortable 4-0 winners from the Pool A match-up. Mateusz Popiołkowski was awarded player of the match for his stellar performance in the goal for Poland and said: “Around 10 players in the squad today have come from the Indoor Hockey World Cup and we wanted to show we can compete just as well in the outdoors as well, so we are proud of the big result to open the tournament.” Austria 0 – 1 USA USA made a fast start to the game scoring through an early penalty corner by Sekayi Charasika in the 6th minute, but much of the first half was played with the teams playing watchfully. The teams traded spells of possession without causing either defence much headache. Austria couldn’t trouble USA keeper Klages from their two penalty corners in the second quarter as the United Wolves took a slender lead into the half-time break. USA had a spectacular third quarter, creating multiple chances including a penalty stroke taken by Aki Kaeppeler, but failed to convert any of them, with Austrian keeper Jakob Kastner starring for the Red Capricorns. Austria came back with a much better final quarter but the USA defence, particularly their penalty corner defence with some incredible rushing and last line keeping by Jonathan Klages helped them maintain their 1-0 lead and get to the final whistle to pick up the crucial 3 points in the Pool B. Jack Heldens was awarded player of the match and said: “We are thrilled to be here and we left everything out there on the pitch today, so glad the result came our way. All credit to the team for playing so hard and sticking to the plans.” Scotland 10 – 1 Oman The final game of the day saw hosts Oman take on Scotland in the Pool B encounter. Before Oman could settle into the game, Scotland had blitzed them multiple times to win penalty corners galore and by the time the first half ended, the visitors had run up the score to 7-0 with five penalty corner goals and two field goals virtually sealing the three points for them by the time the half-time hooter sounded. Scotland added two more goals in the third quarter with Andrew McConnell completing his hat-trick of goals from penalty corners and Ali Douglas flying in to put the finishing touches to a great team move by the Scottish. Oman finally got on the board in the final quarter scoring via an Ammaar Al Shaaibi drag flick from a penalty corner, but the goal counted for little more than consolation, especially with Craig Falconer adding a late goal for the Scottish side taking their goal tally into the double digits. Struan Walker was awarded the player of the match and said: “We are buzzing after the performance. We are a particularly young team with some players

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