Pools announced for 2011 FIH Indoor World Cups

November 26, 2010

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is pleased to announce the official Pools for the 3rd FIH Indoor World Cup for men and women.  The double event – which takes place once every four years – will be played in the Polish city of Poznan from the 8th to the 13th February 2011. 

For the first time in the short history of the FIH Indoor World Cup, all five continents will be represented at the third Edition of the tournament. The national indoor teams of Iran (men) and Kazakhstan (women) are history makers by representing Asia in an Indoor World Cup for the first time, with the respective men’s and women’s teams from Uruguay and Argentina being the first ever participants from South America, showing the increasing popularity of the indoor game outside of its European heartland. There are also Indoor World Cup debuts for Namibia (men & women) and England (men).

Canada has been drawn in pool A, along with the two-time defending World Champions Germany. They will also face off against the tournament host and the 2007 finalist Poland, as well as Holland, who are making their second appearance after finishing fifth in the inaugural event at Leipzig, Germany in 2003. The pool is rounded out by Australia and Namibia.

The Canadians have taken on the powerhouse Germans once before in World Cup play, losing 11-4 in a pool game in 2003. Poland also dominated Canada 9-0 in tournament play at the 2nd World Cup in 2007. The Dutch also faced Canada in the fifth-sixth placement match back in Leipzig. Holland came out on top in dramatic fashion, winning in penalty strokes.

The Australians will match-up against Canada in a battle of the two highest-ranking non-European teams in the world. This will come less than a year after the two teams met in a marathon four-game test series over two days back in April 2010, which took place in Toronto, Ont. The Hockeyroos came out on top, winning three out of the four contests. The previous match-up between these nations came in the seventh-eighth placement match of the 2007 Indoor World Cup in Vienna, Austria. The Canucks were the victors, narrowly defeating the Aussies 5-4.

Finally, Namibia will become the first team to represent the African continent, other than South Africa, at an FIH Indoor World Cup. This will be Canada’s first ever match against Namibia. The Canadian Men’s National Indoor Team is currently in Moscow, Russia were they are playing a series of test matches in preparation for the World Cup in February.

2010 EuroHockey Indoor Nations champions Austria will be one of the favourites to emerge from Pool B, which also features Russia, Czech Republic, England, USA and Iran. Russia were runners up to Austria in the 2010 EuroHockey Nations event, suggesting that they will also be a team to watch in this Pool. 

Pool A of the women’s competition sees reigning World Champions The Netherlands taking on EuroHockey Indoor Nations Champions Ukraine, as well as Czech Republic, Austria, Argentina and Kazakhstan. The Netherlands and Ukraine will be considered as marginal favourites to progress to the Semi Finals from Pool A, but will face strong resistance from skilful and unpredictable opponents.

Germany and Belarus, who finished 3rd and 5th respectively at the 2010 EuroHockey Indoor Nations Championships, are arguably the two strongest teams in Pool B. However, host nation Poland will be keen to make home advantage count and secure a place in the Semi Finals. Australia, Namibia and Uruguay complete the Pool B line-up. 

The FIH Indoor World Cup will take place at the Poznan International Fair Exhibition Hall in February 2011, a year which marks the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the Polish Hockey Association.  A complete match schedule for the tournament will be released in the coming weeks. 

Pools for 3rd FIH Indoor World Cup