The International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed the line-ups for the men’s and women’s Champions Trophy and Challenge tournaments to be held in 2011.
The Men’s FIH Champions Trophy features outright qualifiers Australia, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain and host nation India, with two additional teams being invited to take part in the exciting new eight-team event that will take place on dates to be confirmed in November / December 2011.
The invitational places – which were approved by the FIH Executive Board – have been handed to Korea, who are currently ranked sixth in the ABN AMRO World Rankings, and to 8th ranked Pakistan, who recently made a notable return to form by winning Gold at the 2010 Asian Games, thereby ensuring their right to participate London 2012 Olympics.
The Women’s FIH Champions Trophy will also include eight teams, with China and New Zealand joining Argentina, Germany, England, Australia, Korea and The Netherlands, who are the hosts of the tournament.
In what is a busy calendar year for international hockey, 2011 will also feature the Men’s and Women’s FIH Champions Challenge I and II events.
The Men’s FIH Champions Challenge I will be in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the event taking place around one week before the Men’s Champions Trophy. These dates will be confirmed in due course. The other qualified teams for the tournament are Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Poland.
The Men’s FIH Champions Challenge II will be in Lille between the 3rd and 9th of July 2011, with Austria, China, Czech Republic, Ireland, Russia, Scotland, USA and host nation France doing battle for the tournament.
The Women’s FIH Champions Challenge I will be played in Dublin between the 18th and 26th June with the teams involved being Azerbaijan, India, Japan, Scotland, South Africa, Spain and the United States joining hosts Ireland.
The Women’s FIH Champions Challenge II will break new ground, with Austria hosting its first World Level outdoor hockey tournament, although the Austrian Hockey Association are no strangers to running top level events, having successfully hosted the 2007 FIH Indoor World Cup and many continental tournaments. Joining them between the 7th and 15th May will be Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Italy, Malaysia and Russia.
2011 will also feature the Men’s and Women’s FIH Indoor World Cups, which take place in the Polish city of Poznan between the 8th and