Mumbai: Having tasted success by finishing third in FIH Pro League 2021-22, the Indian women’s team will attempt to get promoted to the tournament proper from the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup to be held in Valencia, Spain from December 11-17 this year.
Indian women participated in the FIH Pro League 2021-22 as a one-off special invitee after a number of countries pulled out due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now that the event is over, the Indian women will be attempting to re-join the nine-team Pro League in the 2023-24 season.
“The FIH Hockey Nations Cup ushers a new dawn of promotion and relegation in the FIH Hockey Pro League with the winning team of the first FIH Hockey Nations Cup having the chance to be promoted to the 2023-24 FIH Hockey Pro League (provided they meet the necessary requirements for it)”, the sport’s world governing body said in a release on Monday.
“The FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup will run from December 11 to 17, 2022, in Valencia, Spain. The hosts Spain, will play in Pool A with South Korea, Ireland and Italy; while India, Japan, Canada and South Africa compete in Pool B,” said the FIH while releasing the pools and match schedule for the event.
The opening match will be played on December 11 in Valencia between India and Canada; two teams who are very familiar with each other having faced off in the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup 2022 as well as the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, within the past two months. The Final will be played on December 17, the release said.
The FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup will run from November 28 to December 4, 2022, in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The hosts South Africa, will play in Pool A with France, Ireland and Pakistan; while Canada join the Asian triumvirate of South Korea, Japan and Malaysia in the Pool B. The Indian men’s team had also finished third in the 2021-22 FIH pro League and will figure in the next edition too.
–IANS
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