02.07.2016, Brussels; After the completion of the quarter finals it’s Great Britain and Belgium that are still in contention from Europe to win the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Finals.
Australia, Great Britain, India and Belgium all sealed their places in the semi-finals of the men’s competition at the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Finals in Antwerp.
They overcame the respective challenges of Ireland, Pakistan, Malaysia and France to reach the final four and book their tickets to the prestigious Hockey World League Finals, that will be played in India at the end of the year. The top three finishers at the event will also be guaranteed tickets to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The men’s semi-finals will take place on Friday 3rd July, with reigning world champions Australia facing Great Britain while host nation Belgium will go head-to-head with India.
India’s achievement of reaching the competition semi-finals has determined the complete eight-team line-up for the end of year showpiece Hockey World League Final. India are hosting that event and will be joined by Australia, Great Britain and Belgium from the HWL Semi-Final in Antwerp was well as Germany, Argentina, Netherlands and Canada, who took the top four places at the recent Argentina HWL Semi-Final in Buenos Aires.
As they have already qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games by virtue of winning the 2014 Asian Games, a top three finish for India in Antwerp will create an Olympic opening for the highest ranked of the fourth place finishers from two HWL Semi-Final events held in Argentina and Belgium. If India finish fourth, then only the top three from each competition will be confirmed for the Olympic Games at this stage.
Men’s semi-final day in Antwerp is Friday 3rd July. The match scheduling and times will be confirmed at 1100 (CEST) on Thursday 2nd July.
5-8 place play-offs:
Ireland v Pakistan
Malaysia v France
Semi-Final matches
Australia v Great Britain
India v Belgium
More details about the men’s and women’s FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Finals including match highlights, imagery, scheduling, reports as well as all competition information can be found on www.fih.ch.
Source: FIH.CH
Photograph: Toom Boon in action! (Koen Suyk (c))