S2H Team

Belgium, the men’s World Cup and European champions have added the FIH Pro League title to their impressive array of accolades after it was learned that they were declared champions by the world body.
Table leaders by far, The Red Lions will take on The Netherlands – their adversaries in the 2018 World Cup final – in Atwerp on Sunday. Belgium were runners-up to Australia in the inaugural edition of the league in 2019.
The women’s match between the Red Panthers and The Netherlands will be staged at the same venue earlier in the day. The Dutch women are also runaway table leaders and will retain their title.

The FIH confirmed on Saturday that the 2020-21 FIH Pro League cannot be played out in entirety because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Percentage success instead of points has been the yardstick to determine standings in the league ravaged by the pandemic like the rest of the sporting world

After Sunday, the last remaining matches will be between the men’s and women’s teams of Australia and New Zealand on June 26 and 27 in Perth, Australia.

The trophy presentation, however, will have to wait till the concluding matches of the league.

“Of course, it really is a pity that it proves impossible to play all initially scheduled matches. However, approximately 2/3 of the matches will have been played, which frankly, in these extraordinary challenging circumstances due to the pandemic, is a remarkable achievement. This would not have been possible without the immense commitment and dedication of all participating National Associations and athletes. On behalf of FIH, I’d like to extend our sincerest thanks and appreciation to all of them. We look forward to the next edition which will start already in October,” said FIH CEO Thierry Weil.

Sunday’s matches at Antwerp’s Sportcentrum Wilrijkse Plein are likely to be exciting irrespective of the destination of the titles.
With the European Championships in Amstelveen, The Netherlands, around the corner, the Belgians and the Dutch will be fully focused on their preparation and even look beyond to July’s Tokyo Olympics.
The doubleheader between the two has been split with the first games having being played in November 2020. The men’s encounter was a humdinger that ended 4-4 before the Red Lions picked up a bonus point with a shootout win over the Oranje.
Fans voted it the best FIH Hockey Pro League match in 2020 but with a growing rivalry between the two countries, the Dutch will be keen to take some gloss off Belgium’s title besides gaining a huge psychological advantage before big events ahead.
The women’s encounter in November was a little different with the Dutch beating Belgium 4-0. However, Belgium are trying to raise the ante amid Euro preparations and are likely to take the battle to the Dutch camp.
The matches can be watched via television or digital streaming by the FIH broadcast partnerships as well as on the Watch.Hockey app in every country where the rights-holding broadcaster is not showing the matches live.
Following its well-received debut during the recent FIH Hockey Pro League matches between Great Britain and Germany in London, the FIH confirmed that live audio commentary of this Sunday’s Low Countries derby matches between Belgium and the Netherlands, men, and women, will be available via the Watch.Hockey app.

The women’s match is scheduled for 1730 IST. The men’s match will be played at 2000 IST.