FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024: India women drawn with New Zealand, USA and Italy in Pool B - group details
Germany, Japan, Chile and the Czech Republic make up Pool A of the Olympic hockey qualifying event in Ranchi from January 13 to 19.
Hockey
Hosts India will be up against New Zealand, the USA and Italy in Pool B of the women’s FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers for the Paris 2024 Summer Games, scheduled in Ranchi from January 13 to 19.
The Paris 2024 hockey qualifying tournament in Ranchi will feature eight nations and the top three teams will make the cut for the Olympics.
Spain’s Valencia will host the second women’s Olympic qualifying tournament. The qualifying criteria and the format will be the same as the one in Ranchi. A total of six slots will be decided through the two qualifying tournaments.
Germany will be the top-ranked side heading to Ranchi at world No. 5. India, who won the Asian Champions Trophy by defeating Japan in the final, will be the second-best team, placed at world No. 6 in the latest hockey rankings.
New Zealand, who finished second to Australia in the Oceania Cup, are world No. 9. Japan (world No. 11), Chile (world No. 14), the USA (world No. 15), Italy (world No. 19) and the Czech Republic (world No. 25) follow in the respective order.
Germany, Japan, Chile and the Czech Republic make up Pool A of the Ranchi leg of the Paris 2024 FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers.
After the round robin matches in the group stage, the top two teams from each pool will qualify for the semi-finals. The finalists will be assured of a top-two finish and thereby, qualify for next year’s Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the losing semi-finalists will play the bronze medal match with the winner of that match also securing their ticket to Paris 2024.
The fixtures for the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers will be announced later.
The winners of the women’s hockey tournaments at the five continental championships — Australia, the Netherlands, the People’s Republic of China, Argentina and South Africa — along with the hosts France qualified directly for Paris 2024. A total of 12 teams per gender will play at the Olympics next year.
Valencia will also host one of the two men’s qualifying tournaments while Oman’s Muscat will be the venue for the second. The format for men’s hockey qualifiers for Paris 2024 is the same as the women's tournaments.
The Paris 2024 hockey competition will take place at Yves-du-Manoir stadium from July 27 to August 9, 2024. All the qualifying tournaments will conclude before or on January 21 next year.
The Indian men’s hockey team, who won the gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou, qualified directly for the Paris 2024 Olympics and will not feature in the qualifying tournaments. The Indian women’s hockey team had to settle for bronze at Hangzhou.
FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024 groups and pools
Men
Muscat, Oman
Pool A: Great Britain, Malaysia, Pakistan, China
Pool B: Germany, New Zealand, Canada, Chile
Valencia, Spain
Pool A: Belgium, Ireland, Japan, Ukraine
Pool B: Spain, Korea, Austria, Egypt
Women
Ranchi, India
Pool A: Germany, Japan, Chile, Czech Republic
Pool B: India, New Zealand, United States, Italy
Valencia, Spain
Pool A: Belgium, Korea, Ireland, Ukraine
Pool B: Great Britain, Spain, Canada, Malaysia