Media Advisory – FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021: Pool A preview
1 November 2021 Pool A: Will Belgium’s junior Red Lions emulate their all-conquering senior side? Lausanne, Switzerland: As part of our build-up to the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021, we bring you the first of four Pool previews which examines the qualification routes and past form of the teams that will compete at the showpiece event in India. Belgium, Chile, Malaysia and South Africa all feature in Pool A, with a top two finish being the only way to secure a place in the competition quarter-finals and thus maintain hopes of Junior World Cup glory. Belgium How they qualified: 5th Place – EuroHockey Junior Championship Men 2019 Junior World Cup history: 2016 – 2nd, 2013 – 6th, 2009 – 11th, 2005 – 11th, 1997 – 12th, 1985 – 11th About the team: Following their silver medal at the 2016 Men’s Junior World Cup competition in Lucknow, India – Belgium’s greatest performance in the competition – the Junior Red Lions will be determined to go one place better this time around. A far from perfect fifth place finish at the 2019 EuroHockey Junior Championship in Valencia, Spain was enough for Belgium to book their ticket to Bhubaneswar, the Indian city where their senior team created history by winning the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup in 2018. With the senior men’s team now also the Olympic champions, this next generation of Belgian hockey could well feel suitably inspired to make their mark. Chile How they qualified: 1st Place: 2021 Men’s Junior Pan American Championship Junior World Cup history: 2009 – 17th, 2005 – 15th, 2001 – 15th, 1985 – 14th, 1979 – 12th About the team: Chile created a little bit of history at the 2021 Men’s Junior Pan American Championship, which was played in August on home in Santiago. The team became junior continental champions for the very first time, defeating defending champions Argentina – who had won all 11 previous editions of the competition – in the final thanks to a drama-filled shoot-out after the title match finished with the scores locked at 1-1. It was a landmark moment for the young team, inspired by the goal-scoring exploits of Andrés Pizarro, who netted seven times to finish at the tournament’s top scorer as Chile qualified for the Junior World Cup for the first time since 2009. As the Junior Pan American champions, Chile have every reason to feel confident about their chances of success in Bhubaneswar. Malaysia How they qualified: Nominated by Asian Hockey Federation Junior World Cup history: 2016 – 11th, 2013 – 4th, 2009 – 12th, 2005 – 10th, 2001 – 12th, 1993 – 11th, 1989 – 6th, 1985 – 10th, 1982 – 4th, 1979 – 4th About the team: Malaysia – who will host the 2023 edition of this event – have competed in all but one of the 11 FIH Men’s Junior World Cup tournaments staged to date, with their performances being a very mixed bag. On three occasions they just missed out on the podium, finishing fourth in 1979, 1982 and 2013, but have also endured some difficult campaigns where they have finished towards the bottom of the standings. With flair players aplenty, they can hurt any team in the world and are not to be under-estimated. Malaysia’s place in the competition was confirmed by being nominated by the Asian Hockey Federation following the unfortunate COVID-19 related cancellation of the 2021 Junior Asia Cup, which acted as the qualification competition for the Junior World Cup in Bhubaneswar. South Africa How they qualified: Nominated by African Hockey Federation Junior World Cup history: 2016 – 10th, 2013 – 12th, 2009 – 15th, 2005 – 13th, 2001 – 11th About the team: Like Egypt, South Africa’s Men’s Junior World Cup ticket came courtesy of a nomination by the African Hockey Federation (AfHF). Following the cancellation of the Junior Africa Cup 2021 in Namibia due to the ongoing COVID-19 global health pandemic, AfHF based their selection on the results of the 2016 Junior Africa Cup, where South Africa finished in second place. They made their Junior World Cup debut at the Hobart 2001 (AUS) event and have competed in every subsequent competition, with their 10th place finish at Lucknow 2016 being their best to date. South Africa’s senior team turned heads at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with some scintillating attacking performances. Can the juniors do the same? The opening match of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 will see Belgium facing South Africa on 24 November at the Kalinga Stadium, the outstanding venue which hosted the last FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup in 2018. The competition final will be played on 5 December. To see the complete match schedule, click here. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website. #RisingStars
OLYMPIC SOLIDARITY COACHING COURSE FOR TANZANIA HOCKEY ASSOCIATION (Tanga, Tanzania – September 2021)
Media Release: Next FIH Congress to be held on 4-5 November 2022
29 October 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: Meeting virtually today, the Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed the dates of the 2022 FIH Congress which will take place – virtually, as already decided – on 4-5 November next year. Looking back at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the EB members extended again their utmost gratitude to the IOC as well as the Japanese authorities and organisers for staging outstanding Olympics, despite the unprecedented challenges caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, and stressed how successful this Olympiad had been for hockey. Regarding the upcoming FIH events, a detailed report was given to the EB about the preparations for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 and the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup South Africa 2021 which will start on 24 November and 5 December respectively. Furthermore, the EB welcomed that FIH, based on its current status in terms of gender equality within the Olympic movement, had recently been approached by the University of Lausanne to be involved in an extensive piece of research regarding women’s participation in decision-making in sport, and confirmed FIH’s willingness to join this project. The last EB meeting of this year will take place on 8 December. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website.
Media Release: FIH Hockey Junior World Cups: pools and match schedules revealed
20 October 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: The International Hockey Federation has revealed the pools (four groups of four teams each) and match schedules of both upcoming FIH Hockey Junior World Cups, Men’s and Women’s. The opening match of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 will oppose Belgium to South Africa on 24 November at the Kalinga Stadium, the outstanding venue which hosted the last FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup in 2018. The Final will be played on 5 December (see full match schedule here). Following England’s withdrawal, Poland will join the event and play in Pool B alongside the hosts and title holders, India, as well as Canada and France. The list of Officials selected for the event is available here. Whilst the Men will close the action in India, the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup South Africa 2021 will start with an opening match involving Ireland and Zimbabwe at the North-West University (NWU) of the academic city of Potchefstroom, situated approximately 120 km west-southwest of Johannesburg. The Final is scheduled on 16 December (see full match schedule here). The hosts, South Africa, will play in Pool D with Germany, Spain and USA, while the title holders Argentina will join India, Japan and Russia in Pool C. The list of Officials selected for the event is available here. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website.
Media Release – Stars Awards: Olympic success wave continues for India
6 October 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: As a likely outcome of India Men’s first Olympic medal for 41 years, as well as the outstanding performance of the Indian Women’s team reaching the last four in Tokyo, India’s athletes and coaches dominate the FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2020-21. Athletes Gurjit Kaur (Best Player, Women), Harmanpreet Singh (Best Player, Men), Savita (Best Goalkeeper, Women), PR Sreejesh (Best Goalkeeper, Men), Sharmila Devi (Best Rising Star, Women) and Vivek Prasad (Best Rising Star, Men) as well as the coaches of India’s women’s team, Sjoerd Marijne (NED) and India’s men’s team, Graham Reid (AUS) grabbed the highest number of votes in their respective categories. 79 National Associations – represented by their respective national captains and coaches – have voted (Africa: 11 out of 25 Member Associations; Asia: 29 out of 33; Europe: 19 out of 42; Oceania: 3 out of 8; Pan America: 17 out of 30). And with a record number of almost 300’000 fans casting their votes, fan participation in the FIH Hockey Stars Awards has been exceptional. Tellingly, all winning athletes have topped the standings in each of the three voting groups (National Associations / Fans and Players / Media). Belgium (Men) and the Netherlands (Women), who were not only crowned Olympic Champions but also won the 2020-21 FIH Hockey Pro League, as well as the GBR/ENG Women’s team, were also given high recognition by the voting groups. Belgium’s Alexander Hendrickx and Arthur van Doren were voted second and third best Players respectively, with Vincent Vanasch named second best Goalkeeper and Shane McLeod (NZL) second best Coach. For the Netherlands, Eva de Goede and Frédérique Matla clinched the respective second and third places in the FIH Player of the Year Award while Alyson Annan (AUS) finished on the second spot of the FIH Coach of the Year Award. For Great Britain / England, Goalkeeper Maddie Hinch, Rising Star Fiona Crackles and Coach Mark Hager (AUS) all reached the third spot of their respective categories. Every continent is represented in the top three of at least one Award, with Belén Succi (ARG) named second best Goalkeeper and Valentina Raposo (ARG) as well as Mustaphaa Cassiem (RSA) clinching the second place of the FIH Rising Star of the Year Award, while Goalkeeper Andrew Charter (AUS), Rising Star Sean Findlay (NZL) and Coach Colin Batch (AUS) all finished on the third spot of their respective categories. With no FIH Hockey Stars Awards in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 global health pandemic on the international calendar, this year’s awards covered the period from January 2020 through to the conclusion of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The voting process started on 23 August and concluded on 15 September 2021. Votes from National Associations – represented by their respective national captains and coaches – counted for 50% of the overall result, while fans and players (25%) as well as media (25%) made the other half of the votes. RESULTS – WOMEN (Weighted scores) FIH Player of the Year: Gurjit Kaur (IND) – Score: 46,63 points (35,48% of the National Associations votes, 50,67% of the Media votes, 64,89% of the Fans/Players votes) Eva de Goede (NED) – Score: 19,80 pts (25,35% of the National Associations votes, 25,33% of the Media votes, 3,18% of the Fans/Players votes) Frédérique Matla (NED) – Score: 13,49 pts (15,67% of the National Associations votes, 20% of the Media votes, 2,64% of the Fans/Players votes) Agustina Albertarrio (ARG) – Score: 12,79 pts (14,75% of the National Associations votes, 1,33% of the Media votes, 20,31% of the Fans/Players votes) Agustina Gorzelany (ARG) – Score: 4,71 pts (5,07% of the National Associations votes, 1,33% of the Media votes, 7,35% of the Fans/Players votes) Maria Verschoor (NED) – Score: 2,58 pts (3,69% of the National Associations votes, 1,33% of the Media votes, 1,63% of the Fans/Players votes) FIH Goalkeeper of the Year: Savita (IND) – Score: 58.75 (51,38% of the National Associations votes, 63,16% of the Media votes, 69,08% of the Fans/Players votes) Belén Succi (ARG) – Score: 22 pts (24,31% of the National Associations votes, 13,16% of the Media votes, 26,22% of the Fans/Players votes) Maddie Hinch (GBR/ENG) – Score: 19,25 pts (24,31% of the National Associations votes, 23,68% of the Media votes, 4,70% of the Fans/Players votes) FIH Rising Star of the Year: Sharmila Devi (IND) – Score: 55,51 pts (48,39% of the National Associations votes, 58,67% of the Media votes, 66,60% of the Fans/Players votes) Valentina Raposo (ARG) – Score: 29,83 pts (36,41% of the National Associations votes, 17,33% of the Media votes, 29,19% of the Fans/Players votes) Fiona Crackles (GBR/ENG) – Score: 14,66 pts (15,21% of the National Associations votes, 24% of the Media votes, 4,21% of the Fans/Players votes) FIH Coach of the Year: Sjoerd Marijne (NED – Team IND) – Score: 56,33 pts (39,73% of the National Associations votes, 66,22% of the Media votes, 79,66% of the Fans/Players votes) Alyson Annan (AUS – Team NED) – Score: 35,37 pts (49,32% of the National Associations votes, 27,03% of the Media votes, 15,82% of the Fans/Players votes) Mark Hager (AUS – Team GBR/ENG) – Score: 8,30 pts (10,96% of the National Associations votes, 6,76% of the Media votes, 4,52% of the Fans/Players votes) RESULTS – MEN (Weighted scores) FIH Player of the Year: Harmanpreet Singh (IND) – Score: 52,11 pts (42,66% of the National Associations votes, 44% of the Media votes, 79,12% of the Fans/Players votes) Alexander Hendrickx (BEL) – Score: 24,88 pts (25,69% of the National Associations votes, 40% of the Media votes, 8,15% of the Fans/Players votes) Arthur van Doren (BEL) – Score: 12,84 pts (17,43% of the National Associations votes, 12% of the Media votes, 4,51% of the Fans/Players votes) Aran Zalewski (AUS) – Score: 4,46 pts (6,88% of the National Associations votes, 1,33% of the Media votes, 2,76% of the Fans/Players votes) Tim Brand (AUS) – Score: 4,04 pts (5,05% of the National Associations votes, 2,67% of the Media votes, 3,40% of the Fans/Players votes) Jake Whetton
FIH Tournament Announcements & AfHF Tournaments Revised Dates
Media Release – FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021: USA and Canada joining
23 September 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: Following last week’s announcement by Hockey Australia and Hockey New Zealand that they will no longer be able to participate to the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 due to COVID-related international travel restrictions put in place by their respective governments, both teams have been replaced by the USA and Canada. Since the qualification process for the event stipulates that the Pan American Hockey Federation has the quota of the first reserve, the USA – who finished third of the recent Junior Pan Am Championships – have been selected. The second reserve spot was attributed to the best team in the FIH World Rankings (Seniors) not yet qualified, namely Canada. As announced by Hockey India earlier today, the event (24 November – 5 December) will take place in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, the outstanding venue which will also host the next FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup in 2023. The match schedule, involving 16 teams, will be communicated at a later stage. The list of Officials selected for the event is available here. The last edition of the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup in 2016 was won by the hosts, India. More details on the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 are available here. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website. #RisingStars #HockeyInvites
Media Release – FIH reveals match schedule of Indoor Hockey World Cup Belgium 2022
17 September 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: On the occasion of a press conference held today in Liège, Belgium, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) revealed the match schedule of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup Belgium 2022, which will be held in the Country Hall of Liège on 2-6 February next year. Today’s event was attended by FIH CEO Thierry Weil, Wallonia Brussels Federation Sports Minister Valérie Glatigny, Liège Province Vice-President Katty Firquet, Wallonia Brussels Federation Sports Administration General Manager Alain Laitat and Royal Belgian Hockey Association President Patrick Keusters, amongst others. Following the announcement by Hockey Australia and Hockey New Zealand that they will unfortunately no longer be able to participate due to COVID-related international travel restrictions put in place by their respective governments, the Oceania representatives have been replaced by Namibia and USA (Men) as well as Canada and South Africa (Women). These four teams have been invited by FIH based on each being the runners up in the recently held African and Pan American Indoor Championships, with a view to maintaining a balance between the number of participating teams per continent. The Women’s national teams of Czech Republic and Kazakhstan will open the show on 2 February, whilst the Men’s and Women’s Finals will be played on 6 February. FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “With no less than 80 international matches played in 5 days, the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup provides a particularly intense and exciting spectacle! On behalf of FIH, I’d like to wholeheartedly thank the local authorities as well as the Royal Belgian Hockey Association for all their efforts to put together an event which undoubtedly will offer a wonderful experience to athletes and fans alike!” Hockey Belgium CEO Serge Pilet said: “We are extremely happy that we can kick off this organisation at last, after very difficult months. Being able to announce a world class event like the Indoor Hockey World Cup in Belgium, is really an important milestone for us. And with our Olympic gold medal still fresh in the memories of the Belgian sports fans, we are convinced we will be able to attract new spectators to discover our beautiful sport in its indoor version. See you all in February in Liège!” The list of Officials selected for the event is available here: men | women. This will be the sixth edition of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup. Indoor hockey’s flagship event will see 12 teams compete in the men’s and women’s competitions respectively. Germany women and Austria men won the last edition, which took place in 2018 in Berlin, Germany. More details on the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup are available here. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website. #IndoorHockey #IHWC2022 #HockeyInvites
