Paris Olympics - 5 days away - Fact Sheets on Field Hockey - History, Venue, Match Schedule, How the teams got there? Format, Team, Where to watch? Officials, Last Malaysia Men's Hockey Team that played in Sydney Olympics...

Hockey and the Olympic Games

The Inaugural Olympic Hockey Competition for men was held in London in 1908 with England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales competing separately. With the addition of Germany and France, the competition ran with six teams. After having made its first appearance at the London Games, hockey was subsequently dropped from the 1912 Stockholm Games after host nations were granted control over ‘optional sports’. It reappeared in 1920 in Antwerp after pressure from Belgian hockey advocates before being omitted again at Paris 1924, exactly 100 years ago. The formation of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in 1924 was not soon enough for the Paris Olympics but it did grant hockey re-entry in Amsterdam in 1928. Hockey has been on the programme ever since, with women’s hockey included for the first time in Moscow in 1980. At the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, hockey celebrated 100 years as an Olympic sport. At the London 2012 Olympics, hockey was the third biggest sport in terms of ticket sales with over 630,000 sold. The Olympics is the ultimate hockey competition, with the Olympic gold medal being the most coveted prize in the sport.

Venue for Paris Olympics

Yves-du-Manoir Stadium has already been renovated several times, and the Hauts de-Seine department, which owns this facility, will be launching a modernisation programme to benefit its communities, associations, schools and universities. The venue includes two (2) competition pitches and one (1) training pitch.

Paris 2024 Qualification Overview – How did the teams get to Paris Olympics…

The winners of each Continental Championship and the teams ranked first, second and third of each FIH Hockey Olympic qualifier joined hosts France with berths at the Paris 2024 Olympic hockey tournaments. The pools, which were determined based on the FIH World Rankings as at 22 January 2024, are as follows:

 

Competition Format

The hockey competition at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comprises women’s and men’s events, with the same format and rules for both. In the preliminary round 12 teams are divided into two pools of six. Each team plays every other team in its pool. The pools for the men’s and women’s competitions were determined by the FIH World Rankings at 22 January 2024, shortly after the completion of the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers. Pool A: Seed 1; 4; 5; 8; 9; 12 Pool B: Seed 2; 3; 6; 7; 10; 11

Men’s competition

Pool A: Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, France, South Africa

Pool B: Belgium, India, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Ireland

Women’s competition

Pool A: Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Japan, China, France

Pool B: Australia, Argentina, Great Britain, Spain, United States, South Africa

The top four teams in each pool proceed to the crossover Quarter-Finals, with the remaining four teams eliminated at this stage. The winners of the Quarter-Finals progress to the Semi-Finals, the winners of which meet in the gold medal match. The losers of the Semi-Finals will play for the bronze medal.

Overall Match Schedule as below:

 

The Teams – each Team

At the Olympic Games Paris 2024, a team is made up of a maximum 16 players, composed of 11 players on the field and up to five substitutes. Each team also has up to three “Ap” alternate athletes that can be drafted into the squad as permanent replacements for athletes who are forced to withdraw from the event for reasons such as injury. Ap alternate athletes can only become competing athletes as per the conditions outlined in the ‘Paris 2024 Late Athlete Replacement policy’, which can be found in Appendix 6 of the Competition Regulations by clicking here.

The Officials that will manage for both Men & Women matches are as below:

Where to Watch in Malaysia:

RTM Sukan & RTMklik with 18 dedicated Astro Channels.. Enjoy it folks!

Malaysia last played in Olympics was the Sydney 2000 Olympics, since then we have failed numerous times – been 24 years. See the team that played in Sydney Olympics 2000…or called as The Last Mohicans in Malaysian Men’s Field Hockey… I am proud to be able to play in 2 Olympics back to back...

 

Sydney 2000 Olympics - Malaysian Men's Hockey Team

Will try to provide daily updates and predictions via WhatsApp and twitter postings.

Let’s enjoy the Olympics….

Regards to everyone

Maninderjit Singh (Mike) - Former Internationals

-  Played in 2 Olympics – 1996 Atlanta & 2000 Sydney