Malaysian Men’s Hockey Fate in which Pool - The Draw for 2023 FIH Men’s World Cup

Malaysian Men’s Hockey Fate in which Pool - The Draw for 2023 FIH Men’s World Cup

The 2023 Men's FIH Hockey World Cup will be the 15th edition of the Men's FIH Hockey World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national field hockey teams organized by the International Hockey Federation. It will be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and at the under-construction 20,000 seat Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, India from 13 to 29 January 2023.

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is pleased to announce that the draw ceremony to determine the pools of the upcoming FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela will be held on September 8, at noon IST (2.30pm Malaysian Time), at the Convention Centre, Lok Sewa Bhawan, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.

The 16 participating teams include India, as the hosts of the competition, whilst Malaysia, Japan and Korea are the other Asian teams. Africa is represented by South Africa, the recent winner of the Africa Cup of Nations. From Europe, the following teams have qualified: defending champions Belgium, England, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, France and Wales. Argentina and Chile are the two American teams having booked their ticket for the prestigious tournament, while Australia and New Zealand, from Oceania, complete the draw.

The Draw Format:

The 16 teams will be divided into 4 Rows based on June World Ranking points:

Row 1 – India (host), Australia, Belgium & Holland

Row 2 – Germany, England, Argentina & New Zealand

Row 3 – Spain, Malaysia, France & Korea

Row 4 – S Africa, Wales, Japan & Chile

This is for a first time this type of draw is done and live telecasted. Previously it was done based on seeding and plot into each group based on the Tournament Regulations.

Process:

The draw will start with Row 4 of each Pool, involving the following teams: South Africa, Wales, Japan and Chile.

It will then continue with Row 3 of each Pool (involving Spain, Malaysia, France and Korea) and conclude with Row 2 of each Pool (with Germany, England, Argentina and New Zealand).

The four top teams which include host India, Australia, Belgium, and the Netherlands will be placed on the first row of their corresponding Pools.

Format of Tournament:

Top spot each seal 4 QF slots

2&3 in pool plays for crossover (A&D with B&C pools) for another 4 slots of OF. Losing teams plays for 9-12^th placing.

Last in each pool plays for 13-16^th placing.

Hope for a good draw and at least target top 10 finish for our Malaysian team.

Godspeed.

Maninderjit Singh (Mike)

2nd September 2022