There has never been an FIH Olympic Qualifiers format that pleases everyone. The latest was no different.
The positives, however, are worth noting.
The do-or-die contests numbering seven double-legged playoffs for either gender created a buzz that drew more than a passing interest from the media and fans even from outside the hockey fraternity.
The month and a half build-up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifiers also appeared to have drawn attention to the sport in many of the nations involved even though it was a singular tie in question and not a whole tournament.
It culminated in record attendances at Ireland’s Energia Park in Dublin (which drew attention and acclaim to a hockey pitch laid over a rugby surface) where 6,086 watched the first match and 51 more turned up for the second.
A whole lot of factors made for the technological first in Irish hockey – not least, reportedly, the uniqueness of the format.
Perhaps much attention for the tie accrued from the rallying cry after Ireland’s men suffered a cruel heartbreak at the hands of Canada in Vancouver in a second-leg match that is likely to be remembered for a video umpiring controversy.
But large interest also hovered around the Irish women, shock finalists at last year’s World Cup, who were poised to carve out a historical first and the double-legged encounter with Canada came under the spotlight.
The match-ups were a semblance of the cross-continental FIFA World Cup qualifying playoffs, sans the “away” match and also had the UEFA Champions League draw-of-lots touch.
If the format drew flak, it stemmed from “Mission Impossible” that the bottom three ranked nations had to embark on as. And possibly the adverse cost-benefit ratio they grappled with as they (except Austria) jetted out to distant locations.
Fact is that all six ties (men and women) that were viewed as lop-sided presented takeaways for the bottom ranked teams.
Take for instance, India vs Russia. The 11-3 (4-2, 7-1) aggregate scoreline for India (World Ranking: 5) against Russia (WR: 22) may have held a we-told-you-so element but wasn’t exactly the case.
The Russians could well have induced India to press the panic buttons had they put away their chances in the first match.
In the second match, Russia took the lead after only 22 seconds into the match and fought gamely till the fourth quarter during which they conceded four goals.
Or consider Austria (WR: 20) who fought back from 1-3 to 3-3 against four-time Olympic champions Germany (WR: No. 6) in the second leg they lost 3-5 even though they were out of the contest after a 0-5 defeat in the first at the Warsteiner Hockey Park in Moenchengladbach.
Then, the quirk of The Netherlands (WR: 3) vs Pakistan (WR: 17) promised to be a cracker after the hosts scored a last-second equaliser to draw the first leg 4-4 – a result that nobody envisaged.
The Dutch got their A Game together to post a 6-1 win in the second leg but for a day visions of a Pakistani resurgence were vivid.
The women’s section wasn’t too different. Australia (WR:2) huffed and puffed over Russia (WR: 19) in a 4-2 first leg before cruising home 5-0 in Perth.
Italy (WR: 17) kept Germany (WR:4) at bay 0-2 before succumbing to a 0-7 loss in the second while Chile (WR: 18) didn’t allow defending Olympic champions Great Britain (WR:5) have things all their way in a 0-3, 1-2 defeat.
The middle-cluster matches were by and large fiercely fought but curiously every tie ended in the home team’s favour.
Any criticism on the format that privileged higher-ranked teams to serve as hosts – even though results (all host nations qualified) seemed to suggest a distinct advantage – would not hold water.
China (WR:10) fought back at the death to force a 2-2 draw on aggregate after losing 0-2 in the first leg.
The Asian side then won the shootout against Belgium (WR:12) at the Wujin Hockey Stadium, Changzhou.
Then, of course there was the unthinkable in Vancouver’s Rutledge Field, where the visiting Irish men (WR: 13) came within a second of upsetting hosts’ applecart, eventually losing in the shootout after a 5-3, 1-3 verdict against Canada (WR: 10).
In the very first men’s qualifier, hosts Spain (WR:8) didn’t quite hit the turf running as France (WR:12) took a 3-0 lead. But the Spaniards drew parity at 3-3 to take the second leg on even terms before breaking French hearts with a 3-2 win.
The most fascinating of all duels would have been India (WR:9) vs USA (WR:13) in Bhubaneswar where the hosts ran up an incredible 5-1 win in the first leg at the Kalinga Stadium.
The Americans, coping with the conditions, fought back sensationally to 5-5 with four first-half goals before Indian captain Rani Rampal slammed in a fourth-quarter winner.
The other middle-cluster ties were keen to an extent. Malaysia (WR:11) took the lead in the men’s match against Great Britain (WR:7) before bowing out 3-9 on aggregate in London’s Lee Valley.
South Korea (WR: 16) went toe-to-toe with New Zealand (WR:9) 2-3 before losing 0-4 in Stratford’s Taranaki Hockey Club.
In the women’s section, Spain (WR:7) endured a taut 2-1, 2-0 battle against South Korea (WR:11) and the curtain came down on the qualifiers with a goalless battle between Ireland (WR:8) and Canada (WR: 15) before the hosts staged a remarkable rally after trailing 1-3 in shootout to book their tickets to Tokyo.
The lead up to the qualifiers may have been complex as preceding formats may have been but this time around there was more transparency in the final stages.
There was no scenario of teams waiting on other results – like the Irish did in 2015 when they needed to watch the live stream of the Australia vs New Zealand Oceania final at the crack of dawn to either celebrate their qualification for the Rio Olympics or mourn their elimination.
The Olympic field was largely invitational till the 1988 Seoul Olympics where, one suspects, a contentious issue that kept the New Zealand men out and eight-time gold medallists India in, catalyzed the inception of the first qualifying tournament in 1991.
Befittingly perhaps, it was held in Auckland, New Zealand, and was a league-cum-knockout tournament that endured until 2004.
A format that broad-based the qualifying field then emerged. It produced three qualifiers from as many league groups in various locations around the world after nine made the grade as hosts, continental champions and teams making use of quotas based on ranking.
The Hockey World League then came into the mix in 2013 (ahead of the 2014 World Cup) to qualify the remainder of the field after continental champions and hosts were picked.
Finally, in 2018, the FIH Pro League, FIH Series Finals along with the FIH Rankings produced seven playoffs (for each gender).
The winners of the playoffs join hosts Japan (Asian men’s and women’s champions) and other continental champions who booked tickets to Tokyo directly.
Belgium, Australia, Argentina and South Africa in the men’s section and Netherlands, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa in the women’s were spared taking the tricky path via the qualifiers.
It wasn’t just the format but the streamlining of the calendar that facilitated the “do-or-die” battles that decided the final set of seven teams (for each gender) who would travel to the Japanese capital for a 12-nation tournament next August.
Intricate perhaps. But certainly not ambiguous when the final countdown began on October 25 at Valencia’s Estado Betero as Spain took on France who, as hosts of the next Olympics in Paris four years from now, will be spared the trials and tribulations of qualifying.
Qualified teams:
Men: Japan, Belgium, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, Netherlands, India, Germany, New Zealand, Great Britain, Spain and Canada.
Women: Japan, Netherlands, Argentina, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Germany, Great Britain, India, China, Ireland, Spain.