Destination Tokyo as 2nd FIH Pro League takes off
This time around, the FIH Pro League will be a means to an end.
With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the horizon, all nine teams in the men’s league and seven in the women’s have their eyes firmly placed on the Japanese capital where the sport’s ultimate event gets going in August.
Into its second year, the Pro League, designed to raise the profile of hockey globally will serve as a workshop for nations priming themselves for the Olympics – widely considered the sport’s ultimate event.
The six-month global league, a first in sport, revved back into action in Changzhou, China, on Saturday.
The Netherlands, World No.1 in the women’s game, put it across the seventh-ranked hosts 3-0 and 4-2 at the Wujin Stadium in a double-header – a significant change from the home-and-away first edition last year.
The roles of home-and-away games between nations will be reversed next year.
The double headers seek to reduce travel costs and fatigue and the adverse impact on the environment and, along with the elimination of the Grand Final contested by the top finishers in the league, represents a new and improved version of the ambitious project.
The entry of India (World Ranking: No. 5) and the top financial drivers of the sport is expected to provide a major fillip to the men’s league which starts on Saturday.
The setting is potentially stirring with India squaring up to the third-ranked Netherlands in the cauldron of the 15,000-capacity Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
The Kalinga is one of 20 venues in 11 nations that will host Pro League matches, totalling 144 over both genders fielding nine nations each.
Defending champions Australia (World Ranking: 1), runners-up and World champions Belgium (WR: 2), The Netherlands (WR: 3), Olympic champions (Argentina, WR: 4), India (WR: 5), Germany (WR: 6), England (Great Britain, WR: 7), Spain (WR: 8) and New Zealand (WR: 9) comprise the men’s league.
Defending champions and World Cup holders The Netherlands (WR: 1), runners-up Australia (WR: 2), Argentina (WR: 3), Germany (WR: 4), England (Great Britain, WR: 5), New Zealand (WR: 6), China (WR: 10), Belgium (WR: 12) and USA (WR: 13) make up the women’s field.
The first edition carried risks of a very ambitious project. It waded through club vs country conflicts with an innovative 32-strong squad per team, entailed huge travel, stay and organizational expenditure and tested the pulling power of hockey which produced chequered results.
The 2019 Pro League also brought in its wake setbacks and controversies and it included two traditional giants of the game – India and Pakistan – not featuring.
India withdrew from the women’s league, citing it to be an unfavourable path to the Olympics. Hockey India then pulled out the men’s team in solidarity with the women.
The other Asian exponent Pakistan, enduring tough times, withdrew from the league for paucity of finances and were subsequently banned.
India’s place was filled by Spain but Pakistan’s last-minute withdrawal reduced the field to eight nations.
The inaugural league witnessed a technological marvel in a temporary pitch at Twickenham Stoop, England, a rugby fortress that drew huge crowds and suggested a model for the future.
The inception year also witnessed some stirring matches, incredible comebacks and high-scoring matches as travel-weary teams grappled with the roster.
The innovation of providing a bonus point for shootout wins following drawn matches added an interesting dimension to the league and provided a twist to fortunes in the final analysis.
With guaranteed national broadcasting, live streaming and growing stadium patronage, the league gives hockey the hope of emerging from the fringes.
Most home games drew passionate support which augurs well for the next two years of commitment but, sadly, that wasn’t always the case.
Spectator response in Germany was abysmal. The Netherlands, much the home of modern hockey, witnessed vast empty spaces in the iconic Wagener Stadion, even for the semi-final against Belgium.
What the response will be for the India vs Netherlands match-up at the Kalinga stadium remains to be seen, especially since the second match clashes with the third and final One-day International against Australia in a land where cricket is king.
Still, the pro league has done much to up exposure of top level hockey and a chance to attract GenNext to the sport with whom the future lies.
Notions of elitism, incidentally leveled at the now defunct Champions Trophy, were allayed by the FIH who instituted the Inter-Continental Cup.
The newest competition formulated by the world body will provide one team to replace the bottom-placed team at the 2022 Pro League.
An unprecedented prize purse of $250,000 at the inaugural league, meagre when compared to say, soccer or cricket, represents an encouraging first step of its kind by the FIH.
Hopefully it will lead to a giant step for hockey which bids to rid itself of the shackles of amateurism and justify the name of the league which aims to bring about the transformation.