Muscat, Jan 8:
The FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024 begins on January 24. With new competing nations and a format never associated with a World Cup so far, the event ushers in a new era for international hockey.
The inauguraledition of the Hockey5s World Cup will see participation from across theglobe with 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams, from across 5 continents, competing for the title of the first ever Hockey5s World Champions.
Muscat will provide a picturesque backdrop as the women’s competition willbegin the proceedings, starting from January 24, with the finals to beplayed on January 27.
The men’s competition will begin right after,starting on January 28, with the medal matches slated for January 31.
The teams were all placed into their respective pools during the draw ceremony, held on September 3 2023 Women: Pool A: Fiji, Malaysia, Netherlands, Oman Pool B: Australia, South Africa, Ukraine, Zambia Pool C: India, Namibia, Poland, United States Pool D: New Zealand, Paraguay, Thailand, Uruguay Men: Pool A: Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland Pool B: Egypt, India, Jamaica, Switzerland Pool C: Australia, Kenya, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago Pool D: Fiji, Malaysia, Oman, United States Atthe end of the pool stage, the two top teams in each pool will proceedto the quarterfinals and stay in the hunt for the title of the firstever Hockey5s World Champions.
The bottom two teams however will play for the new ‘Challenger Trophy’ introduced as an initiative of th FIH president Tayyab Ikram as a sign of encouragement for all teams.
With six nations playing their first ever FIH World Cup – Fiji, Jamaica,Oman, Paraguay, Thailand, Zambia -, the additional silverware will keep all 16 teams in the hunt for success, even if they can’t make it into the quarterfinals of the event.
The FIH Hockey5s World Cup will begin on January 24 at 08:00 local time, as Australia take on Ukraine in the opening encounter of the women’s competition. There will be 15 more matches from the Women’s World Cup on opening day, as all 16 teams will play two of their pool matches on day 1.
