Sports Bulletin

Sports Bulletin Report POTCHEFSTROOM (South Africa): Besides hosts South Africa, Japan, Korea and Ireland posted victories on the opening day of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022 after winning their respective matches played at Potchefstroom, South Africa. Japan beat Canada (3-0): Japanese coach Akira Takahashi mentioned before the game that his team wouldn’t be afraid to play to their strengths and his team backed up his words with a dominant display in the opening encounter against Canada with a clinical 3-0 win to open their campaign. Japan started the game on the front foot and opened the scoring through Ken Nagayoshi beating Zachary Coombs on the fifth time of asking from a penalty corner midway through the 2nd quarter. Japan added two more goals from penalty corners on either side of the half-time through Taiki Takade and a second goal for Ken Nagayoshi, ending Canadian hopes of a comeback, taking all 3 points in the first game of the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup 2022. Japan’s Kaito Tanaka was awarded the player of the match for a dominant display in the middle of the field. Speaking about the importance of winning the first game, Tanaka said: “It is important to win the first game, but the next two matches are just as important, so our focus is going to shift on the next game right away.” Ireland beat France (2-1): France came into the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022 as one of the prohibitive favorites, but suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of continental rivals Ireland, in their campaign opener. Ireland opened the scoring against the run of play midway through the first quarter, catching France out on a quick counter attack, as John McKee played a perfect pass into the path of Jeremy Duncan, who lifted the ball over the keeper, into the goal. France found a response inside 5 minutes, from a thundering penalty corner goal, scored by Victor Charlet. Ireland had the chance to go into the break with their lead restored but Arthur Thieffry pulled off a spectacular save from a penalty stroke to keep the teams level. The second half saw the game start to open up as the teams took turns to launch attacks. Ireland found the breakthrough in the final minute of the 3rd quarter, through a Shane O’Donoghue penalty corner. France continued to probe through the 4th quarter, even taking their keeper off for the final 5 minutes, but Ireland denied them possession for long periods and deservedly took all 3 points. John McKee who set up the first goal for Ireland was adjudged the player of the match and said: “It was a really good game for us and a massive result in the group. I am looking forward to the next two games and we are not going to get ahead of ourselves.” Korea beat Malaysia (1-0): Korea drew first blood in the battle of the Asian giants, scoring inside 5 minutes, through a Jonghyun Jang penalty corner and that goal was enough to get all 3 points for Korea. It was a game of missed chances as Korea and Malaysia both won penalty strokes in the 2nd quarter, but failed to capitalize, as Jang took too long to take a shot attempt and blew an opportunity to double Korea’s lead, while Rahim, who had the chance to pull Malaysia level, put his penalty stroke attempt wide to the right. The second half saw yet another penalty stroke opportunity missed, as Jang’s second chance of the game was deflected on to the post and out by Hafizuddin Othman to keep Malaysia in the game. As the game went on, Korea became more defensive, and Malaysia couldn’t get anything past Jaehyeon Kim, who had an outstanding performance in the Korean goal. Kim was adjudged the player of the match and said: “Happy with the 3 points, as it’s always good to get a win over Asian rivals Malaysia, because they aren’t an easy team to beat. Looking forward to the upcoming matches in the tournament now.”   South Africa beat Pakistan (6-2): Hosts South Africa gave the home crowd a lot to cheer for, as they produced a fluent attacking performance winning 6-2 against Pakistan, who showed plenty of promise, but were let down by the lack of defensive solidity. South Africa were clinical from the set pieces, scoring from two penalty corners and a penalty stroke in the first half. Tyson Dlungwana penalty corner opened the scoring for the hosts, and while Pakistan pulled level through Rooman, South Africa were not bogged down and continued to attack, scoring twice in the second quarter to take a comfortable lead into the interval. The pace of the game remained frantic in the second half as well, with South Africa striking first through a magical deflection by Tevin Kok, with his back to the goal that snuck in between the keeper’s legs. Skipper Dayaan Cassiem scored South Africa’s 5th goal in the final quarter to seal the win for his team in style. Pakistan pulled a goal back in the final quarter through Arshad Liaqat, but it proved to be little more than a consolation, as South Africa found a 6th goal on the counter to close the game out. Captain Dayaan Cassiem was awarded the player of the match award for his excellent performance in leading the line for South Africa. Samkelo Mvimbi, scorer of South Africa’s third goal, said: “It was a great start to the tournament for the team, and good to be involved amongst the goals as well. It’s a great feeling to play at home in front of the supporters and it gives us extra motivation to come out and play with a lot of passion, heart and fire as we are known to do.”

Sports Bulletin Report POTCHEFSTROOM (South Arica): “We expect to be competitive in every match. We play only western teams, South Africa, Ireland and France, in the group stage and they play a different style of hockey than Asian teams. Our new team didn't play any match against western teams yet, so that will be our challenge. But all teams are fairly near in the world rankings, “said Pakistan hockey coach Siegfried Aikman. Cheslyn Gie, Interim Head Coach (RSA): "As always our team's objective is to make the knockout stages. We have shown in the past couple of years we can compete in the big games against the best nations and we want to do that in front of our home fans. We are a team in a transitional phase as a number of players are not available and our depth will be tested, but we believe the players who are given the opportunity will step up for our country. I am honoured at the opportunity to lead the team at the FIH Hockey Nations Cup." Patrick Tshutshani, Head Coach (CAN): “The on-field and off-field chemistry will be key in our development steps moving forward. The key steps for us will be how we connect as a team, and how we want to play the game. The Nations Cup brings great competition, and I look forward to how we apply ourselves in pressure moments.” Fred Soyez, Head Coach (FRA): “This is a very important tournament for us with two big objectives: the qualification for the next FIH Hockey Pro League and the preparation for the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup. The team is very excited to play again in Potchefstroom and ready to start the competition.” Mark Tumilty, Head Coach (IRL): “We are looking forward to the challenge of the inaugural Nations Cup. We expect it to be a very competitive tournament with all teams evenly matched. We will need to be at our best to give us a chance to progress in the tournament.” Arul Anthoni (MAS): “We hope to make defensive improvements after the Azlan Shah Cup, have a better outcome in attacking and play the Final to improve our world ranking.” Akira Takahashi (JPN): “If we win this tournament, we can join the FIH Hockey Pro League next year. So that is our objective. Furthermore, we’re back in the World Cup – which we missed for the last three consecutive editions - so we want to use this tournament also to prepare well for the upcoming World Cup.” Shin Seok Kyo (KOR): “This tournament enables to reach the FIH Hockey Pro League, where you have the highest possible level. Our team is strong. We’re hoping for the top four, and targeting to reach the final. We will play to our best, also to prepare for the World Cup.” Pakistan coach expects to be competitive in every match of FIH Nations Cup Sports Bulletin Report POTCHEFSTROOM (South Arica): “We expect to be competitive in every match. We play only western teams, South Africa, Ireland and France, in the group stage and they play a different style of hockey than Asian teams. Our new team didn't play any match against western teams yet, so that will be our challenge. But all teams are fairly near in the world rankings, “said Pakistan hockey coach Siegfried Aikman. Cheslyn Gie, Interim Head Coach (RSA): "As always our team's objective is to make the knockout stages. We have shown in the past couple of years we can compete in the big games against the best nations and we want to do that in front of our home fans. We are a team in a transitional phase as a number of players are not available and our depth will be tested, but we believe the players who are given the opportunity will step up for our country. I am honoured at the opportunity to lead the team at the FIH Hockey Nations Cup." Patrick Tshutshani, Head Coach (CAN): “The on-field and off-field chemistry will be key in our development steps moving forward. The key steps for us will be how we connect as a team, and how we want to play the game. The Nations Cup brings great competition, and I look forward to how we apply ourselves in pressure moments.” Fred Soyez, Head Coach (FRA): “This is a very important tournament for us with two big objectives: the qualification for the next FIH Hockey Pro League and the preparation for the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup. The team is very excited to play again in Potchefstroom and ready to start the competition.” Mark Tumilty, Head Coach (IRL): “We are looking forward to the challenge of the inaugural Nations Cup. We expect it to be a very competitive tournament with all teams evenly matched. We will need to be at our best to give us a chance to progress in the tournament.” Arul Anthoni (MAS): “We hope to make defensive improvements after the Azlan Shah Cup, have a better outcome in attacking and play the Final to improve our world ranking.” Akira Takahashi (JPN): “If we win this tournament, we can join the FIH Hockey Pro League next year. So that is our objective. Furthermore, we’re back in the World Cup – which we missed for the last three consecutive editions - so we want to use this tournament also to prepare well for the upcoming World Cup.” Shin Seok Kyo (KOR): “This tournament enables to reach the FIH Hockey Pro League, where you have the highest possible level. Our team is strong. We’re hoping for the top four, and targeting to reach the final. We will play to our best, also to prepare for the World Cup.” Siegfried Aikman (PAK): “We expect to be competitive in every match. We play only western teams, South Africa, Ireland and France, in the group stage and they play a different style of hockey than Asian teams. Our new team didn't play any match against western teams yet, so that will be our challenge. But all teams are fairly near in the world rankings.”

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland): Acting President Seif Ahmed, the Executive Board of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) have selected Belgium and the Netherlands to jointly host the 2026 FIH Hockey Women’s and Men’s World Cups simultaneously. Decision was taken in the 48th FIH Congress that held under the chairmanship of FIH Acting President Seif Ahmed. The combined event will take place in July or August 2026 in Amsterdam/Amstelveen, Netherlands and Wavre, Belgium, with female and male teams playing in both venues. The proposed format for the match schedule - with one local team, Belgium or the Netherlands, playing each day in order to make sure to fill the venues every day -, the particularly solid financial foundation of this bid – including the support from the host broadcasters – as well as the athletes’ performance and well-being have been instrumental in the EB’s decision. Commenting on the decision, FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “On behalf of FIH, I would like to thank wholeheartedly all National Associations that submitted a bid. We received excellent proposals and it was therefore a particularly challenging task to decide. We’re very much looking forward to working with the National Associations of the current Women’s and Men’s World and Olympic Champions, the Netherlands and Belgium respectively, that will undoubtedly put together outstanding World Cups!” On a different note, the EB received a comprehensive report on the FIH Finances. Thanks to additional income and reduced expenses, the final operational profit for 2022 is expected to be higher than the 500k CHF budgeted. The FIH Hockey Pro League operational result is also positive by 129k for season 3 (2021-22) and is expected to amount to at least 150k for season 4 (2022-23). For 2023, the budget has been approved by the EB. The expected FIH financial result is an operational profit of 1m CHF (including 150k profit from the FIH Hockey Pro League) thanks, to a large extent, to the upcoming FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup in India. The positive evolution of the FIH Hockey Pro League in financial terms is confirmed by its financial result figures: it started from -750k in 2018 (season 0) and -3.5m in 2019 (season 1) to -124k in season 2, +129k for season 3 and +150k for season 4. Therefore, after two difficult years (2018 and 2019), the Pro League finances remained stable in 2020 and 2021 - despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the cancellation of 35% of the matches! - to 2022 and 2023, where the forecast is, as mentioned above, positive.  

SPORTS BULLETIN REPORT Lausanne (Switzerland):-2016 Olympic Gold medallists Argentina and Africa’s highest-ranked nation South Africa will open the 2023 FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup. The thrilling encounter between these two powerhouses of international hockey will take place on 13 January 2023 in the iconic Kalinga Stadium of Bhubaneswar, which hosted the last Men’s World Cup final in 2018. The second match of the day in Bhubaneswar will see world’s number one Australia taking on France, in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup quarter-final. Later on the same day, the brand-new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela will host its first-ever FIH World Cup matches, starting with a “derby” between England and Wales, followed by the local heroes of India playing in front of their home fans against Spain. In total, 44 matches will be played, with the Final scheduled on 29 January (7pm local time) in Bhubaneswar. Four Pools: Pool A: Australia, Argentina, France, South Africa Pool B: Belgium, Germany, Korea, Japan Pool C: Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia, Chile Pool D: India, England, Spain, Wales

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):-The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has revealed the shortlists for the FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2021-22, with players, coaches, media and fans being able to register their votes for the nominees in the women’s and men’s categories for the Best Player, Goalkeeper, Rising Star and Coach of the Year, starting from today, 6 September 2022. Additionally, awards for the Best Umpire of the Year, in men’s and women’s categories will be given, which will be selected by the FIH Officials Committee. The new voting process includes an Expert Group, whose votes will count for 40% of the overall result. Votes from National Associations, represented by their respective national teams’ captains and coaches, will count for a further 20%. The fans and other players (20%) as well as media (20%) will make the remaining 40%. FIH Player of the Year (Women & Men) FIH Rising Star of the Year (Women & Men, under 21 years old and/or having participated at the FIH Junior World Cup in 2021/2022) FIH Goalkeeper of the Year (Women & Men) FIH Coach of the Year (Women’s & Men’s Team) FIH Umpire of the Year (Women & Men), to be selected by the FIH Officials Committee FIH Player of the Year Award Women: Felice Albers (NED), María José Granatto (ARG), Frédérique Matla (NED), Agustina Gorzelany (ARG), Georgina Oliva (ESP) Men: Arthur de Sloover (BEL), Harmanpreet Singh (IND), Niklas Wellen (GER), Thierry Brinkman (NED), Tom Boon (BEL) FIH Goalkeeper of the Year Award Women: Savita (IND), Josine Koning (NED), Belén Succi (ARG), Jocelyn Bartram (AUS), Phumelela Mbande (RSA) Men: Loïc van Doren (BEL), PR Sreejesh (IND), Pirmin Blaak (NED), Arthur Thieffry (FRA), Alexander Stadler (GER) FIH Rising Star of the Year Award Women: Charlotte Englebert (BEL), Luna Fokke (NED), Mumtaz Khan (IND), Jip Dicke (NED), Amy Lawton (AUS) Men: Miles Bukkens (NED), Timothée Clément (FRA), Sanjay (IND), Pau Cunill (ESP), Rizwan Ali (PAK) FIH Coach of the Year Award Women’s Team: Janneke Schopman (NED) Team India, Jamilon Mülders (GER) Team Netherlands, Katrina Powell (AUS) Team Australia, Raoul Ehren (NED) Team Belgium, Adrian Lock (ENG) Team Spain Men’s Team: Jeroen Delmee (NED) Team Netherlands, Michel van den Heuvel (NED) Team Belgium, Graham Reid (AUS) Team India, Garreth Ewing (RSA) Team South Africa, Frédéric Soyez (FRA) Team France

Sports Bulletin Report ISLAMABAD:-Pakistan born, hockey player from Austria Nawaz Rana will represent SA-ALLIANCE men’s hockey team in the forthcoming Men’s Hockey World Cup, which will take place from October 1 to 10, 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa. While talking to this reporter over his mobile from abroad, Pakistan born former captain/state champions Austria added that he was happy after getting the place in national hockey squad and he would toil hard to produce best performance in the international hockey fixture. “I will try my best to produce a performance in the mega hockey event of the world, “he said. “I have been invited from Austria as a hockey player in up-coming world cup hockey 2022 Cape Town with the South Africa Alliance hockey team. Thanks to Almighty Allah for this chance to me, as this is my life's biggest hockey tournament in which I am going to show my abilities and game skills, “he further added. To a question he said: “I am proud to say, as Pakistan overseas hockey player, European states champions hockey clubs invited me in their national events top league hockey, they have offered to me a great respect and honours with my nominations in their teams as a player, as a captain, as a coach and as a technical official at the national and international levels. “Field hockey is my family sport in Pakistan which is also the national sport of the country. I am proud to say that I belong to the most respectable hockey academy in Pakistan named Ustad Aslam Rodha hockey academy, which has trained more than 200 Olympians and international hockey players for Pakistan hockey including my elder brother Shahbaz Ahmed Junior, who represented Pakistan in 1992 and 1996 Olympics”. “Soon after my past domestic hockey career in Pakistan (1992-2004), I got an international exposure in hockey with multinational champion teams with my contribution. I always hold the green flag for the glory of Pakistan at the pitches of hockey nations by representing different characters including as a player, captain and coach. I have earned a track record with great and notable achievements in European hockey states with the contribution in  20 times indoor, outdoor champions league, national cups and international hockey events, “national assistant coach concluded.

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):-The International Hockey Federation has revealed the pools (two groups of four teams each) and match schedules of boths upcoming FIH Hockey Nations Cups, Men’s and Women’s. 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 FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup will run from 28 November to 4 December 2022, in Potchefstroom, South Africa. The hosts South Africa, will play in Pool A with France, Ireland and Pakistan; while Canada joins the Asian triumvirate of Korea, Japan and Malaysia in the Pool B. The opening match will see two Asian powerhouses go head-to-head as Malaysia take on Korea on 28 November at the North-West University of Potchefstroom to start the new era of international hockey. The Final will be played on 4 December (see full match schedule here). The FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup will run from 11 to 17 December 2022, in Valencia, Spain. The hosts Spain, will play in Pool A with Korea, Ireland and Italy; while India, Japan, Canada and South Africa compete in Pool B. The opening match will be played on 11 December 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 Spain and Netherlands 2022 as well as the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, within the past two months. The Final will be played on 17 December.

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):- The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced that the draw ceremony to determine the pools of the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar - Rourkela will be held on 8 September, 2022. The pinnacle of the FIH men’s tournaments will be held from 13 to 29 January 2023 and involve 16 participating national teams. Those include India, as the hosts of the competition, whilst Malaysia, Japan and Korea are the other Asian teams. Africa is represented by South Africa, recent winners of the Africa Cup of Nations. From Europe, the following teams have qualified: Belgium, England, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, France and Wales. Argentina and Chile are the two American teams having booked their ticket for the prestigious tournament, while Australia and New Zealand, from Oceania, complete the draw. The draw will be conducted by FIH CEO Thierry Weil, with the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Odisha, Shri Naveen Patnaik also in attendance. The four top teams which include host India, Australia, Belgium and Netherlands will be placed on the first row of their corresponding Pools based on the FIH World Rankings as per 1 June 2022. The draw will start with Row 4 of each Pool, involving the following teams: South Africa, Wales, Japan and Chile. It will then continue with Row 3 of each Pool (involving Spain, Malaysia, France and Korea) and conclude with Row 2 of each Pool (with Germany, England, Argentina and New Zealand). The Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneswar and the brand-new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela will host the matches, in the state of Odisha, India. In the previous edition, in 2018, Belgium claimed the title by winning the final against Netherlands, while Australia wrapped up the podium places, finishing third.

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):-The recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England and a series of test matches between Poland, Austria and Chile have made some impact upon the FIH World Rankings among both the men’s and women’s nations. While there have been shifts and movements up and down the table, the top of the men’s and women’s rankings remains unaltered. Australia men, victors in Birmingham for the seventh consecutive time, are sitting at the top of the men’s rankings with 2851 points. Belgium (2742) and Netherlands (2646) are in second and third place. Germany (2340) men sit in fourth place, while a silver at the Commonwealth Games helped India (2294) maintain its position in fifth, just ahead of Commonwealth Games bronze medallists England (2158) in sixth. Argentina (2082) and Spain (1849) are in seventh and eighth position respectively, while New Zealand’s (1778) fifth place in Birmingham means the Black Sticks remain in ninth. Further down the table, South Africa men’s (1450) impressive fourth place finish at the Commonwealth Games sees them move to 14th, one place ahead of Canada (1421). Wales (1383) remain in 16th while Pakistan’s (1333) performances over the two week long competition sees them rooted to 18th spot. Scotland (1159) are also non-shifters in 21st position. Chile (959), Austria (1169) and Ireland (1469) are currently involved in a three-team test series. The results so far have favoured Ireland as the Green Army has moved from 14th to 13th. Austria remain in 19th place while Chile sit at 23rd. In the women’s rankings there is no movement in the top three. Netherlands (3155) continue to top the table as they have for the past decade. Argentina (2714) are in second placed with Australia (2589) in third after a silver medal win in Birmingham. England (2289), who won their first ever Commonwealth Games gold medal have jumped to fourth place, with Germany (2189), Belgium (2159) and Spain (2143) in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. New Zealand’s (1995) fourth place finish hasn’t altered their position at eighth, and India (1953) are just behind in ninth position. China (1805) make up the top 10, ahead of Asian rivals Japan (1693) and Korea (1649). Canada’s (1421) performance in Birmingham helped them move up to 14th; Scotland (1224) are unmoved at 17th and South Africa (1151) remains at 20th in the rankings. Wales (961) dropped from 23rd to 24th. Kenya’s (604) first appearance at the Commonwealth Games saw then move up two place to 37th, after a win over neighbouring Ghana in the classification match. Ghana (684) drop one spot to 32nd.

Sports Bulletin Report Lausanne (Switzerland):-The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has confirmed the participating teams and the Pools for the FIH Hockey Indoor World Cup South Africa 2023, which will be staged in Pretoria, at the Heartfelt Arena from 5 to 11 February 2023. The Pools were established on the basis of the current FIH Indoor World Rankings. All 24 teams – except Australia and New Zealand – were in the line-up of participating teams for the event which was scheduled to be played in February 2022 but was postponed due to COVID-related issues. For the 2023 edition, Australia will replace Russia (Men) and Belarus (Women) since, based on the current guidance from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the participation of these two teams has been denied by FIH. New Zealand will replace Germany (for both genders) who, despite having qualified, have decided not to take part. South African Hockey Association Acting CEO Shaune Baaitjies said: “The South African Hockey family are so excited about another first for SA Hockey and we cannot wait to welcome our visitors to our beautiful country where we promise to deliver a spectacular event. As a country with a proud heritage of hosting historic international events we can’t wait to add the FIH Hockey Indoor World Cup to this incredible catalogue” FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “All teams and all hockey fans are eagerly waiting for the FIH Hockey Indoor World Cup to be back! We’re really glad to have again participating teams from every continent, making it an impressive line up! On behalf of FIH, I’d like to thank wholeheartedly the South African Organising Committee for their commitment and hard work. We’re looking forward to exciting hockey in Pretoria in 6 months’ time” In 2018, at the last edition of the FIH Hockey Indoor World Cup, Germany (Women) and Austria (Men) were crowned Indoor World Champions. Women - Pool A Netherlands, Austria, Australia, United States, South Africa, New Zealand Women - Pool B Ukraine, Czech Republic, Namibia, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Canada Men - Pool A Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, Kazakhstan, Namibia, New Zealand Men - Pool B Iran, Czech Republic, Australia, South Africa, United States, Argentina