India men, women teams to play Olympic qualifiers next year

India men, women teams to play Olympic qualifiers next year Failure of Indian teams, men and women, to win the Asian Games gold medal  will require them to play the Olympic Qualifiers next year to secure their respective place in the hockey competitions of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. While the India will play host to one of the Olympic Qualifiers to be played in June 2019, Indian women's hockey teams will have to travel to Japan to play in a similar tournament in June next year. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has confirmed the composition of the pools for the FIH Series Finals in 2019, promising  plenty of exciting games ahead! Additionally, the full line-up of venues is now confirmed with India and Ireland joining France, Japan, Malaysia and Spain as hosts. Three pools of eight teams each for women as well as for men will compete in these events which will gather a number of the best-ranked teams not involved in the FIH Pro League. All teams will  qualify  through the Hockey Series Open. Five more teams – two men’s and two women’s teams from Africa as well as one men’s team from Asia - will qualify to the FIH Series Finals through the remaining Hockey Series Open events due to be played in Africa (7-9 December in Zimbabwe) and Asia (date and venue to be confirmed). Also Read: Breaking News: Vitality Hockey Women's World Cup: Australia, NZ play 1-1 draw “After the success of the Hockey Series Open, the FIH Series Finals will provide an even bigger stage for top and highly contested games. We’re convinced that this new competition, part of our new Event Portfolio, will generate a lot of excitement among fans all over the world”, FIH CEO Thierry Weil stated. Match schedules for the FIH Series Finals will be confirmed at a later stage this year. Also Read: FIFA World Cup 2018: Swiss overcome 0-1 deficit to beat Serbia 2-1 The top two teams from each FIH Series Final will secure a place in the Qualification Events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which will be held in November 2019.   Men’s Pools:

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