The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has confirmed the composition of the pools for the FIH Series Finals in 2019. There are plenty of exciting games ahead!
Additionally, the full line-up of venues is now confirmed with India and Ireland joining France, Japan, Malaysia and Spain as hosts.
Three pools of eight teams each for women as well as for men will compete in these events which will gather a number of the best-ranked teams not involved in the FIH Pro League.
All teams qualified through the Hockey Series Open. Five more teams – two men’s and two women’s teams from Africa as well as one men’s team from Asia – will qualify to the FIH Series Finals through the remaining Hockey Series Open events due to be played in Africa (7-9 December in Zimbabwe) and Asia (date and venue to be confirmed).
“After the success of the Hockey Series Open, the FIH Series Finals will provide an even bigger stage for top and highly contested games. We’re convinced that this new competition, part of our new Event Portfolio, will generate a lot of excitement among fans all over the world”, FIH CEO Thierry Weil stated.
Match schedules for the FIH Series Finals will be confirmed at a later stage this year.
The top two teams from each FIH Series Final will secure a place in the Qualification Events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which will be held in November 2019.
Men’s Pools:
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) 26 April – 4 May 2019
Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Italy, Malaysia, Vanuatu, Wales
India (venue to be confirmed) 6 – 16 June 2019
India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, USA + 1 team to be confirmed
Le Touquet (France) 15-23 June 2019
Chile, France, Ireland, Korea, Scotland, Singapore + 2 teams to be confirmed
Women’s Pools:
Ireland (venue to be confirmed) 8-16 June 2019
Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, Scotland, Ukraine + 1 team to be confirmed
Japan (venue to be confirmed) 15-23 June 2019
Chile, Fiji, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Uruguay
Valencia (Spain) 19-27 June 2019
Belarus, Canada, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Wales + 1 team to be confirmed
To find out more about the competition, follow the Hockey Series on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn or visit the official Hockey Series website.
Source: FIH