RAJA HAFEEZ
Lausanne, Switzerland: The sixth editions of the Men’s and Women’s Pan American Cups, which take place in Santiago, Chile from 19 January until the 30 January are set to be two scintillating competitions, all the more appreciated by the teams following months of interruption to hockey activities – due to the ongoing Covid pandemic.
The stakes are high for the competing teams. The top two teams in the men’s competition and the top three in the women’s event will also qualify for the next blue riband event in international hockey – the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup in Spain and the Netherlands 2022 and the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup, Bhubaneswar and Rourkela 2023.
For Lucas Rey, 2016 Olympic gold medallist and head coach to the Argentina side who won a gold medal at the 2021 Men's Junior World Cup, the prospect of seeing players back on the pitch is an exciting time: ‘It will be amazing for the players to be back on the pitch. There is always a great atmosphere between different teams. Many of the players from across Peru and Chile play club hockey in Argentina so they will enjoy playing against their Argentinian team mates. And Chile is a fantastic host, so it will be a really good competition.’
