India Men to Play First Match against Fiji; India Women to Lock Horns with Kazakhstan

New Delhi, 13 February 2013: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) today releases the match schedule of the Hero Hockey World League Round 2 2013 – Men’s & Women’s, which will be held from 18 February to 24 February 2013 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.

In the Men’s tournament, China, Ireland, Bangladesh, Oman, Fiji and India are participating, whereas in the Women’s tournament, Japan, Russia, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Fiji and India are competing for top spot.

India Men’s team will play their first match against Fiji on 18 February and with China on 23 February. India Women’s team start their campaign on the 18 February against Kazakhstan and play a hard-hitting match against Japan on 22 February.

Six matches will be played on 18, 21 and 24 February, starting from morning 10:00 am. Three matches will be played on 19, 20, 22 and 23 February at 4:00, 6:00 and 8:00 pm.

The FIH Hockey World League is a qualifying league for the 2014 FIH World Cup, to be held in Hague in the Netherlands. In the Men’s tournament of the FIH HWL, 54 countries are participating and a total 45 teams from five continents are participating in the Women’s tournament.

In the Men’s Hockey World League Round 1, which were held from 17 August to 15 December 2012, 34 teams participated and played matches in a round-robin format in nine venues. Thirteen teams qualified from Round 1 and will join 10 higher-ranked teams in Round 2.

The twenty-three teams in the FIH Hockey World League Round 2 will compete against each other at four venues – New Delhi, Rio de Janeiro, Saint-Germain-en-Laye (France) and Elektrostal (Russia) – from 18 February to 2 June 2013. Seven teams will qualify from Round 2 and will join nine highest-ranked teams in the FIH Hockey World League Round 3 (Semi-Final league), to be held in the Netherlands and Malaysia from 13 June to 7 July 2013.

Seven teams will be qualified from the FIH HWL Round 3 and will join a host nation for the Final League of the FIH Hockey World League, to be played in February 2014.

In the Women’s Hockey World League Round 1, which were held from 14 August to 15 December 2012, total number of 28 teams participated and played matches in a round-robin format in six venues. Fifteen teams qualified from Round 1 and have joined 10 higher-ranked teams in Round 2. Ukraine and Canada withdrew from the participation in Round 2 at the last moment.

The twenty-three teams in Women’s Hockey World League Round 2 are competing against each other at four venues – Cape Town, New Delhi, Valencia and Rio de Janeiro – from 21 January to 10 March 2013. Eight teams will be qualified from Round 2 and will join eight highest-ranked teams in the FIH Hockey World League Round 3 (Semi-Final league) from 13 June to 7 July 2013.

South Africa and Belgium are the first two teams to qualify for the FIH Hockey World League Round 3 as they topped the points table of Round 2 matches in Cape Town, held from 21 to 27 January 2013. Seven teams will be qualified from the Semi-Final league and will join host nation Argentina for the Final Round of the FIH Hockey World League, to be played in San Miguel de Tucumán from 30 November to 8 December 2013.

Dr. Narinder Batra, Secretary General, Hockey India stated: “We are very pleased to host the Hero Hockey World League Round 2 2013 in New Delhi, which is one of the hockey-loving cities in the world. Players love Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium and they said their best moments happened at this venue only. After highly-contested Hero Hockey India League 2013, fans will see another action-packed league where 12 striving teams will compete against each other to qualify for the FIH World Cup 2014 in Hague, the Netherlands. The long strenuous journey to Hague will start from New Delhi.”