Hosts India has been clubbed with Germany and six other nations in the women’s FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers for the Paris Games to be held in Ranchi from January 13 to 19.
The Paris hockey qualifying tournament in Ranchi will also feature ,New Zealand, Japan, Chile, the USA, Italy and the Czech Republic and the top three teams will make the cut for the Olympics.
Germany will be the top-ranked side heading to Ranchi at world No. 5. India, who won the Asian Champions Trophy 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 (No. 11), Chile ( No. 14), the USA (No. 15), Italy ( No. 19) and the
Czech Republic ( No. 25) follow in the respective order.
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.
Fxtures for the Olympic Qualifiers will be announced later.
The winners of the women’s hockey tournaments at the five continental championships — Australia, the Netherlands, 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 Muscat will be the venue for the second. The format for men’s hockey qualifiers is the same as the women’s event.
The Paris hockey competition will take place at Yves-du-Manoir stadium from July 27 to August 9, .
The Indian men’s team, who won the gold medal at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, qualified directly for the Olympics and will not feature in the qualifying tournaments. The women’s finished third for bronze at Hangzhou.
Olympic Qualifiers groups
Women
Ranchi, India: Germany, India, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, the United States, Italy and the Czech Republic
Valencia, Spain: Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, Korea, Ireland, Canada, Malaysia and Ukraine
Men
Muscat, Oman: Great Britain, Germany, New Zealand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Canada, Chile and China
Valencia, Spain: Belgium, Spain, Korea, Ireland, Japan, Austria, Egypt and Ukraine