FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup: A history 

    18 January 2023 Indoor hockey is a variant of hockey that originated in Germany in the mid 20th century as a way for players of hockey to practise the sport during the months of winter when it was too cold to play hockey outdoors. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) recognised indoor hockey in its constitution in the year 1968 and there have been various FIH Indoor hockey events since 1972. The FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup 2003 in Leipzig, Germany was the first world cup event in indoor hockey, for both men’s and women’s competition. The event was watched by a total of 20 million viewers, proving the great popularity of the sport among hockey fans. Since 2003, the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup has been organised every 4 years. Germany is the most successful team in the history of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cups, in both men’s and women’s competition. The German women’s team has won 3 gold medals, 1 silver medal and 1 bronze medal, standing on the podium at every single edition of the Indoor World Cup. The German men’s team has an identical record at the Indoor World Cups, having won the gold medal at the first three editions of the event followed by a bronze in the 2015 edition and a silver in 2018. The upcoming FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup South Africa 2023 will be the sixth edition of the event and the first one to be played outside of Europe. The event was originally planned to be held in Liège, Belgium in the year 2022, but had to be postponed in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, with Pretoria, South Africa appointed as the new hosts. In the women’s competition Netherlands are the second most successful team in the history of the World Cup, having never finished outside of the top-2 positions. The Dutch have won the gold medal twice (2007 and 2015) and the silver medal three times (2003, 2011 and 2018). They will be strong favourites for the Gold medal at the 2023 World Cup, with Germany pulling out of the 6th edition due to scheduling conflicts. Other than Germany and Netherlands, Spain are the only other team to have ever made the finals, finishing as runners-up in 2007, having defeated the mighty Germans in the semi-finals. Ukraine also has a rich history at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cups as they have made the semi-finals on 3 occasions, winning a bronze medal in 2011. France, Czech Republic and Belarus have also stood on the podium once, winning the bronze medals in the 2003, 2015 and 2018 editions respectively. In the men’s competition Netherlands and Austria have won one gold medal each in the 2015 and 2018 editions respectively. Austria also has two more medals at the Indoor World Cups, winning silver in 2015 and bronze in 2011. Poland, who were also the hosts in 2011, have three silver medals in their history finishing runners-up at the first three editions of the event. Austria will arrive at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup South Africa 2023 as the team to beat, having won the gold medal at the previous edition, defeating a strong German side in an intense final. Iran, who finished 4th in 2015 and won the bronze medal in 2018 will be making their 4th consecutive appearance at the World Cup and will also be amongst the teams expected to do well. Netherlands who will be making their first appearance in the World Cup since winning the gold at the 2015 edition will also be among the strong favourites. For more information about the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup South Africa 2023, 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. #IndoorHockey #IHWC2023 #HockeyEquals #HockeyInvites

    Hockey: Butali Sugar lie in wait for Africa Club Championship

      January 13, 2023 Butali Sugar Warriors is a team on a mission. For the last four years, they have been the team to beat in the Kenya Hockey Union (KHU) Premier League. After conquering the local scene, which they have made their own, the team has turned their focus to the 2023 Africa Cup for Clubs Championship. To them, success at the international scene in next on their agenda. And the Kenyan side will under more pressure this time round, for obvious reasons. Kenya will host the annual continental hockey club event set for February 13-19 at the Kenton College in Kileleshwa after the Africa Hockey Federation (AfHF) gave the country the rights to host the event. With that, the Kenyan champions will want to maintain their top shape, only that this time, it will be against other continental giants. The first two teams at the completion of the men’s and women’s Premier Leagues book automatic tickets to the Africa Clubs championship. Most Kenya clubs have in recent times failed to compete in the event hosted in other African cities, owing to financial challenges. Wazalendo men’s club was the last local side to feature in the competition last year in Ghana. Kenya last staged the event in 2016 at the City Park Stadium where Kenya Police finished second after losing 3-2 in the final to Eastern Company from Egypt. Butali Sugar Warriors, who will represent Kenya at this year’s event alongside women’s champions Strathmore University Scorpions, are planning to go for the title this time round. The sugar men were crowned local league champions with a game to spare after humbling Sailors Hockey Club 4-1 last Sunday but captain Constant Wakhura believes their job is not yet done as they seek African glory. Wakhura, who has successfully led his team to 17 matches on an unbeaten record since the start of the season, said they have already started preparations despite remaining with one match until the end of the 2022 season. “It has been a wonderful season for us. We have not lost a match in our campaign and it will be important if we maintain the same momentum ahead of the African games next month,” said Wakhura. “We are already in the mood for the continental games. We are working on some of our mistakes we have noticed in the league and I trust come February 13, we will be ready.” Butali will be relying on league top scorer Festus Onyango to inspire them to glory in the Africa Club games after scoring his 16th goal of the season. Meanwhile, KHU Secretary General Wickliffe Ongori has said the number of Kenyan clubs set to participate in the championship might increase, if the African Hockey Federation approves the proposal. Lakers Hockey Club from Kisumu and former champions Blazers are also in contention to represent the nation in the women’s category. Source: The Standard (www.standardmedia.co.ke)

      Malaysia, Netherlands and France earn important wins as Leones and Kookaburras play a thrilling draw

        Day 4 of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup promised close contests as teams started to get a clearer picture of the results they needed to reach the targets they had set for the pool stages. Malaysia vs Chile in Pool C and France vs South Africa in Pool A were crucial contests in terms of avoiding a 4th place finish, which rules teams out of the quarterfinals contention, with all 4 teams having lost their first matches at the World Cup. Malaysia were the first team to get on the board today, coming back from a goal down twice to beat Chile 3-2. France would replicate them later in the day winning another close contest against South Africa to register their first points in Pool A. In the battle of the unbeaten teams, Netherlands made light work of New Zealand beating them 4-0, making it two wins in two, to get to 6 points and now need just a draw in their final game against Chile to confirm their spot at the top of Pool C and earn a direct entry into the quarterfinals. In Pool A, Argentina and Australia played a highly entertaining draw where the momentum swung from one side to the other. Australia were down 3-2 with just 2 minutes remaining, but Blake Govers, returning from injury, stepped up when it mattered and scored a fantastic goal to keep Australia at the top of the pool, thanks to their vastly superior goal difference. Match 1: Malaysia vs Chile 3-2 Malaysia and Chile came into the opening contest of day 4 knowing it was crucial to get a win, with both teams having faced losses in their opening encounters against Netherlands and New Zealand respectively. Both teams played the contest with an open attacking flair that they had been unable to express in their opening contests. Chile were the first to score from a penalty corner as Juan Amoroso’s drag flick went through the rushing Malaysian defenders and thumped the backboard. Malaysia then struck back as Razie Rahim scored from a penalty stroke. But Chile got their lead back before the half through a smashing reverse shot by Martin Rodriguez. Malaysia had their work cut out if they wanted to win the game in the second half, but they got their act together quickly, scoring twice in the third quarter. Ashran Hamsani got the leveller, acrobatically deflecting a high ball from over his head, into the goal. Norsyafiq Sumantri then put Malaysia in the lead, smartly passing the ball under the keeper on the reverse, after a Malaysian penalty corner attempt was deflected by the first rusher. Chile threatened to pull level in the very last second as they earned a penalty corner, but two massive saves from Malaysian keeper Hafizuddin Othman got Malaysia the win and all 3 points! Norsyafiq Sumantri was awarded the player of the match for scoring the decisive goal for Malaysia. Captain Marhan Jalil speaking after his team’s win said: “We are happy with the win. It wasn’t the perfect game, we could have played much better. But it’s 3 points and that was what we needed today.” Match 2: New Zealand vs Netherlands 0-4  Netherlands were handed a big break inside the first 5 minutes as a poor backward pass from Kane Russell was easily intercepted by Tjep Hoedemakers who squared up the ball to captain Thierry Brinkman, who had just the keeper to beat, and his powerful shot could not be stopped. Netherlands added another goal in the first quarter as New Zealand substituted their keeper for an outfield player in a surprising move, which allowed Netherlands to attack the circle and find Koen Bijen who had an open goal to tap the ball into. Thierry Brinkman then added a second goal before the half as a smart deflection at the top of the circle managed to sneak past the Kiwi keeper who was brought back on in the second quarter. New Zealand were much more composed in defence in the second half, making it a fairly even battle. But the Netherlands would not be denied. They first had the ball in the back of the goal in the final minute of quarter 3, but it was taken away for a foul in the build up. Netherlands would not be denied for long though as Tjep Hoedemakers who was at his industrious best, got on the end of a cross by captain Brinkman to add a 4th goal in the final quarter and make it 6 points out of 6 for them. Dutch captain Thierry Brinkman was awarded player of the match and said: “Happy to get 4 field goals today. We probably could have scored more to be honest, but happy overall with two wins in two.” Match 3: France vs South Africa 2-1 France and South Africa have competed multiple times over the past year in the FIH Hockey Pro League as well as the recently concluded FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup. In the Pro League, it was France who got the better of South Africa twice, while South Africa gained the upper hand in the Nations Cup. With both teams facing opening day losses to Argentina and Australia, the head-to-head encounter was crucial for them both to try and win in order to avoid the bottom spot and try to make it to the quarterfinals or the crossovers. Both teams produced attacking hockey as most fans expected, but goals in the first half came through penalty corners for both sides. Victor Charlet was the first to score with a low flick that snuck in between the keeper and the post defender. Connor Beauchamp equalised for South Africa in the 15th minute with an absolute ripper of a drag flick that went over the head of the French keeper and into the goal. The second half followed a similar pattern, but it was Victor Charlet once again who made the difference, perfectly placing a low drag

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        FIH President press conference in Rourkela – Excerpts

          With the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 having gotten underway in an incredible manner, FIH President Tayyab Ikram today addressed the media in a press conference at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, Odisha, answering media queries on various aspects of the World Cup, as well as the state of international hockey affairs overall. Before opening the floor to the journalists, speaking about the World Cup, President Ikram thanked the Odisha government and Hockey India for the incredible efforts put in by them towards hosting the Men’s World Cup in Odisha, India which has made an impeccable start. “The FIH Hockey World Cups are getting bigger and bigger and the atmosphere and attendances in Rourkela are proof of that. I want to thank all the journalists who are taking our beautiful game to fans all over the world. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the Odisha government, the Indian government and their leadership groups, Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik for putting together this event so beautifully.” “The event is a great success not just because of the stadium being built and the infrastructure that supports the event, but because of the way it is transforming the community in Odisha. I have had the opportunity to speak to local people in Rourkela and they wished to thank hockey for how beautiful the coming of the World Cup has made the city. It has created an atmosphere of great festivities and not just that of a hockey tournament.” Thereafter, President Ikram, took questions from the media members about various aspects of the game. On his first 60 days as President of FIH “It has been an interesting journey. I have been in and around hockey all my life and I have had goals and dreams for hockey in that entire time. It is just the office of the FIH president that I will try to realise those dreams through now. My plan is to speak to all stakeholders and develop hockey with the athletes and fans at the centre of the game. This is the first time FIH has written to all National Olympic Committees and International Federations, and invited their insights. We will launch new strategies and initiatives after listening to them, soon after the World Cup.” On other events that might be added to the hockey calendar “I think we have a robust event calendar with the World Cups, Junior World Cups, Pro League and the new Nations Cup. There have been suggestions from around the world including those from India and Odisha for new events. We are waiting for formal concrete proposals to start analysing them. The Nations Cup is in the right spot because we wanted the Pro League to be open to other nations, which is made possible by Nations Cup. We will plan to involve more countries in the next 25 world rankings by adding another level to the Nations Cup, but it is still under discussion.” On the biggest priorities in the next 2 years of his term as President “The biggest priority for me is to engage with all 140 of our national federations and make sure that FIH is relevant for all of them. We are actively developing strategies that will involve the associations and their athletes, giving them the opportunity to develop. Secondly, the betterment of hockey athletes is another important aspect we are working on. We want to give them better opportunities to develop their skills in hockey and also skills that will be useful for them after their playing careers in hockey. Yet another priority is the event portfolio. There is a lot of demand for hockey around the world. There are teams like Fiji that were involved in the Hockey World League that we want to involve in more FIH events. Continental hockey is a way to engage more teams like Fiji and develop the game all over the world.” On making hockey more sustainable “FIH has already made good progress in terms of sustainability but we are not going to stop there. In the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 the hockey field already reduced usage of water on the field by 40% compared to the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. In the Olympic Games Paris 2024, we will further reduce the use of water by 20%. The changes are not going to be drastic and we will keep the athlete’s safety and the playability at the heart of any decisions we make towards our larger sustainability goals.” On the future of Hockey5s “Countries all over the world are accepting and adapting to Hockey5s. It is an important tool for the development of hockey. The Hockey5s showcase in Lausanne was hugely successful and we have had great stories from the Youth Olympic Games where the team from Zambia defeated a hockey powerhouse like Germany. The team from Canada, with self-financed athletes, managed to win a silver medal at the games in Nanjing, China. So Hockey5s is a great bridge for hockey all around the world and with the first Hockey5s World Cup happening in Oman in 2024, we will see the next step in the evolution of Hockey5s. Hockey5s is not a threat to indoor hockey in any way at all. We are trying to maximise all formats of hockey, which includes indoor hockey.” On provisions for countries like Pakistan struggling financially Pakistan is an important stakeholder in the world of hockey. The greatest sporting property in the world, irrespective of which sport, is India vs Pakistan. We are creating programs for Pakistan and all other countries to give them opportunities to compete at the highest levels. What we need is equal willingness from the countries as well in terms of developing hockey. The Hockey India model is perfect for countries trying to come up in the hockey world.” Women’s Game “The participation in hockey is 50/50 between women and men. That is the current international benchmark that most federations are trying

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