India women qualify for Rio Olympics 2016
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has confirmed today that India women have qualified for the hockey event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Indian women qualify for Olympics after a gap of 36 years. They last played in Olympics in 1980, the Moscow Olympic year when women’s hockey was introduced in Olympics.
“India qualified after England defeated Spain in the semi-finals of the Unibet EuroHockey Championships in London, which ensured that the only teams who can now win the event have already qualified for Rio through the Hockey World League Semi-Finals – Netherlands and England (as Great Britain).
The winner of the EuroHockey Championships will qualify for the 2016 Olympics as European continental champions, opening up a further qualification spot which India secure as the team who ranked highest at the Hockey World League Semi-Finals not already qualified”, stated FIH.
India women join the nine teams already qualified for Rio 2016 – Korea as Asian Games champions, Argentina as Pan Am Games champions and Great Britain, China, Germany, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and the USA through the Hockey World League Semi-Finals.
The remaining two Olympic places (women) will not be finalised until after the Continental Championships, the Oceania Cup and the Africa Cup for Nations, which finish in November this year.
The 2016 Summer Olympics will start on 5th August at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro and the Women team will commence its outing from 7th August 2016.