29 November 2022 | Source: SAHockey.co.za South Africa and France, the two teams to have tasted FIH Hockey Pro League action previously, locked horns in a battle that could see either side re-enter the top tier of the international game. South Africa had opened their tournament with a 6-2 win against Pakistan while France had somewhat surprisingly lost to Ireland. The match marked cap number 50 for Tevin Kok. The South Africans were enjoying a vociferous home crowd support and sensed the opportunity to get a first win against France in the recent head-to-head. South Africa had two penalty corners in the early exchange, but both were well charged down by the French defense. The South Africans were punished for not taking their chances as a bullet goal from Corentin Sellier gave the visitors the lead. But as seen many times over the past couple of years this South African team is made of sterner stuff. Ryan Julius hit a wonderful diagonal ball through to Tevin Kok who picked it up and finished superbly. 1-1 at the end of the first quarter! Both teams had chances with the speed of the South African attack asking questions of the French defense. France won their first penalty corner with six minutes remaining to half-time. Jethro Eustice kept the ball out on the post although they had to refer to overturn a stroke that was incorrectly awarded. Tempers were starting to rise, and the umpires were themselves being tested as well. Dayaan Cassiem continued to provide danger up front, but his shot was tame. South Africa received a penalty corner on the half-time break after Tevin Kok pulled down a good aerial ball. Jacques van Tonder picked up the rebound but was unable to find the back, however the penalty corner was re-awarded and form the re-award the ball found the back of the net. However, after a referral the goal was correctly disallowed as the ball was off target. 1-1 at the break. The first short corner of the second half went to France after the ball struck the foot off Sam Mvimbi. But uncharacteristically the French were unable to show their typical danger at a set piece. South Africa showed their own character with a great counter, but Keenan Horne was unable to put the finishing touches on the team move. France almost regained the lead with a massive opportunity on the overhead. Tynevez one on one with Estiaan Kriek kept the French out before a ripping pass up the other side saw Tevin Kok hit the outside of the post as South Africa challenged the French defense once more. 15 minutes remained. South Africa took the lead superbly against the French with a tenacious goal. Luke Wynford responded to a superb save and Keenan Horne was on hand to bundle it home and give the hosts the lead for the first time in the game. France almost pulled level but the ball narrowly missed the South African goal. France were desperate to pull level but the South Africans were keeping them at bay and France decided to withdraw their keeper for the final two minutes. South Africa though held the French at bay and as a result secured the victory and a place in the Semi-Final!!!!   FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2022 – Day 2 Results Pool B – Korea 3-1 Japan Pool B – Canada 2-3 Malaysia Pool A – Pakistan 1-3 Ireland Pool A – South Africa 2-1 France FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2022 – Day 3 Fixtures (1 December) 09:00 – Korea vs. Canada 11:00 – France vs. Pakistan 13:00 – Japan vs. Malaysia 15:00 – South Africa vs. Ireland

28 November, 2022 A new era of international hockey began with 8 top teams producing thrilling hockey on the opening day of the inaugural FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022. The Nations Cup features the best teams in the world outside of the ones participating in the FIH Hockey Pro League, and their quality was on full display as the lower ranked teams took victories in 3 of the 4 games, with Japan, Ireland and Korea defeating higher ranked Canada, France and Malaysia respectively. Hosts South Africa however ensured there was no upset in their opener, as they put in a spectacular attacking display, scoring 6 goals past a young Pakistan team. Match 1 – Canada vs Japan 0-3 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.” Match 2 – France vs Ireland 1-2 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.” Match 3 – Malaysia vs Korea 0-1 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.” Match 4 – South Africa vs 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,

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27th November, 2022 With less than 24 hours to go to the inaugural FIH Hockey Nations Cup, the coaches of all teams have spoken exclusively to FIH.hockey to express their expectations: 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.” To see the complete FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup South Africa 2022 match schedule, please click here. #FIHNationsCup #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites

18 November 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded the best sports governing body initiative silver award at the Sports Business Awards 2022, in London, UK, today. The recognition comes for the creation of the Watch.Hockey platform, which has massively boosted the viewership opportunities for hockey fans across the world. Hockey’s popularity across all continents presented a unique challenge for fans to enjoy viewing the various national and international events taking place all over the world, across all time zones. Watch.Hockey, co-created by FIH and its partner Nagra, has taken on this challenge by becoming a one-stop destination for hockey events, making it the “digital home of hockey” that has enabled fans around the world to watch a full range of hockey matches, not just international ones, but also local competitions which are key for the engagement and development of the sport around the world. Since its launch, Watch.Hockey has seen an accumulated 1.2 million users from over 148 countries. More than 1,000 matches have been streamed and made available on the platform live and on-demand, from FIH events to local competitions such as Spain’s Final Four, Australia’s BWHA, New Zealand’s Hockey Premier League and more. With new upcoming international and national competitions as well as engaging content that will respond to the ever-growing thirst of fans to watch their favourite sport – such as the upcoming FIH Hockey Nations Cup that will be available live on Watch.Hockey from anywhere in the world – the future of Watch.Hockey looks promising! 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. #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites

9 November 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland: The very first edition of the FIH Hockey Nations Cup is almost upon us. The event will begin with the men’s tournament, which will run from 28 November to 4 December in Potchefstroom, South Africa, and will be followed by the women’s tournament which begins on 11 December and runs till 17 December in Valencia, Spain. With highly ranked nations competing, not just for the inaugural title, but also a chance of promotion to the FIH Hockey Pro League, the Nations Cup promises to start off its first season with a bang! Venues The FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup will be played in Potchefstroom, South Africa which also hosted the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup – the first FIH Hockey World Cup played on African soil – and FIH Hockey Pro League matches earlier in the year. The FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup will be played in Valencia, Spain in the Estadio Betero, which has hosted men’s FIH Hockey Pro League matches over the past three years, amongst others. Format The FIH Hockey Nations Cups will be contested between 8 teams in each event. The teams have been split into two Pools of 4. Each team will face the other 3 teams in their Pool in the group stage. At the end of the group stage, all 4 teams will be classified from 1-4 with the top two teams from each pool making it to the semi-finals, and the bottom 2 teams then going forward for the 5-8 classification. The teams finishing in the 3rd place in their Pool will play the 4th placed team in the other Pool. The winning team from these contests will play for the 5th position and the losing teams will play for the 7th position. The teams finishing in the first place in their respective Pools will play the second placed teams in the other pool, in the semi-finals. The winners will then go on to play the finals, while the losing semi-finalists will play for the 3rd position. Promotion The winning teams from the FIH Hockey Nations Cup, men’s and women’s, will be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League for the 2023-24 season, where they will replace the teams that finish last in the 2022-23 season of the FIH Hockey Pro League. Teams Men’s Tournament Pool A Hosts South Africa are joined by France, Ireland and Pakistan to make up Pool A, that promises to deliver high-octane attacking hockey. South Africa replaced New Zealand in the FIH Hockey Pro League last season, and while they finished in the bottom place, their team took major steps forward and it showed as they made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. France was the other team to play in the FIH Hockey Pro League in the previous edition, replacing Australia, and produced great hockey, registering impressive wins against India, Argentina and South Africa through the course of the tournament. South Africa and France will also be in action in the FIH Hockey Odisha Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, so they will be highly motivated to put their best foot forward at the Nations Cup, in build-up to the event. On the flip side, Ireland and Pakistan will have their eyes firmly set on the promotion to the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023-24, by winning the Nations Cup. Both Ireland and Pakistan narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification and will be hungry to use the Nations Cup as the platform to re-launch their ascent in hockey world rankings. Pool B Canada joins the Asian triumvirate of Japan, Korea and Malaysia in Pool B that promises to deliver a variety of tactical battles in every game. Canada have been in a transitional phase as a younger generation aims to burst through and make a name for itself in world hockey. Their performances in the Commonwealth Games were never lacking in passion and intensity, as they finished in the 8th place, with their best performance coming in the 7/8 place classification match against Pakistan which they narrowly lost by a score-line of 3-4. Japan, Korea and Malaysia will head to the Nations Cup right after the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup where they have put in some excellent performances already and currently occupy the top three spots in the league table ahead of Pakistan, Egypt and South Africa. All three teams have also qualified for the World Cup in January 2023 and will aim to continue building momentum through the Nations Cup. Women’s Tournament Pool A Hosts Spain will be joined by Korea, Ireland and Italy in Pool A of the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup. Spain have been on the rise with their young rising stars blending well with the established veterans on the team. They are one of the two teams playing in the Nations Cup after having played in the FIH Hockey Pro League in the previous season, where they had an impressive 5th placed finish, ahead of Germany, England, China and USA. Spain also excelled in the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain & Netherlands 2022, making it to the quarterfinals, and finishing 7th. Ireland and Korea endured disappointing World Cup campaigns by their usual standards, finishing 11th and 13th respectively. The disappointments at the World Cup will provide plenty motivation for Ireland and Korea to try and win the Nations Cup and get promoted into the FIH Hockey Pro League in the next season. Italy has been a team on the rise over the past year with impressive performances on the continental level. The Nations Cup will provide a big opportunity for them to take their game up a level onto the international stage, and their opponents would do well to not underestimate them! Pool B Pool B is an intriguing mixture of teams who are all on an upward trajectory with Chile and South Africa being joined by Asian giants India and Japan. All 4 teams were involved

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