The Indian men's and women's teams got favourable draws in the highly anticipated FIH Hockey5s World Cup 2024 in Oman, which was officially launched on Sunday at a ceremony in Salalah, Oman.
In all, 16 men’s and women’s teams from around the world will be vying to become the first-ever Hockey5s World Champions when the World Cup gets underway from January 24-31, 2024 in Muscat, Oman, the FIH said in a release on Sunday.
Both the Indian men's and women's teams qualified by winning the AHF Hockey 5s Asia Cup, which was the qualifying event, at Salalah.
In the men's competition, India were drawn in a relatively easy pool with Egypt, Switzerland and Jamaica alongside them in Pool B.
Netherlands were drawn with Pakistan, Poland and Nigeria in Pool A while Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad & Tobago and Kenya are placed in Pool C, while hosts Oman will face Malaysia, United States and Fiji in Pool D.
In the women’s competition, India were placed in Poolc along with the United States, Poland and Namibia.
Hosts Oman were drawn in Pool A along with Malaysia, Fiji and Netherlands while Australia, South Africa, Ukraine and Zambia comprise Pool B. New Zealand, Uruguay, Thailand and Paraguay complete Pool D.
Speaking at the draw ceremony, attended by Chief Guest H.H. Sayyid Firas Bin Fatik Al Said and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth H.E. Basil bin Ahmed Al Rawas, FIH president Tayyab Ikram congratulated all the 32 teams that qualified for the FIH Hockey5s World Cup.
“I would like to congratulate all the 16 men’s and women’s teams that will be a part of the record books as the first teams to compete in an FIH Hockey5s World Cup! You represent the very best of Hockey5s, and you will be the trailblazers and the role models for all future players who take up this new and exciting format of our beloved sport,” he said.
Speaking about the new era that the FIH Hockey5s World Cup 2024 ushers, he added: “The draw ceremony today not only sets up the path to the gold medal for our teams, but also heralds the dawn of a new era in Hockey! Hockey5s is not just a very exciting format, but it is also a highly accessible version of Hockey that I am sure will inspire even more youngsters to pick up the stick and the ball and start playing our beautiful sport."
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