June, the Hockey month
Fever generated by the ICC World Cup 2019 notwithstanding, June is going to be the busiest Hockey month. The month will not only witness the FIH World Series Finals, both for men and women, but also see the finals of the inaugural FIH Pro League, both for men and women.While the first of three FIH series Finals was held in Kuala Lumpur in April-may, the second will be held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar from June 6 to 15 and the third at Choteau in France. Similarly, the three women finals are to be held in Hiroshima, Valencia and Banbridge. India men will be competing in Bhubaneshwar where among other teams are Asian Games gold medalist Japan while in women's section, India, Poland, Uruguay and Fiji are in one pool at Hiroshima and the other pool will be featuring host and Asian Games champion Japan, Chile, Russia and Mexico.The finalists of all FIH Series and FIH Pro League will be automatically included in the Olympic Qualifiers to be held later this year. So the teams aspiring to qualify for Tokyo Olympics 2020 will have lots at stake in these FIH Series and FIH Pro League finals this month.After six months of drama and excitement across the globe, it all comes down to one last month of frenetic hockey action as the teams in the inaugural FIH Pro League pull out all the stops to join Argentina women as qualifiers for the FIH Pro League Grand Finals, taking place in Amstelveen, Netherlands from 28-30 June.In what has been an extraordinary opening edition of this ground-breaking competition, eight men's teams and nine women's teams have travelled the globe, playing home and away fixtures to secure a top-four finish in the league. For the teams that take those all-important top four places, qualification for the FIH Olympic qualifiers is the main prize, although important FIH World Rankings points are also at stake, plus the enviable position as the first winners of the inaugural edition of the FIH Pro League competition.At time of writing – and perhaps testimony to the competitiveness of the FIH Pro League – Argentina women are the only team to have secured their place in the top four – Las Leonas have 35 points so far, with just two matches left to play. The nations that could still potentially qualify are Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Germany. But, with Germany and Belgium still to play each other twice, only one of those two teams can better Argentina's 35 points. This means Argentina are at the very least guaranteed a fourth place finish. In the men's league, there is even more intrigue and uncertainty as the final month of matches commences. Although Belgium currently top the league table with a win rate of 85.71, the Red Lions have only played seven matches so far. They have a tough run in to the Grand Finals with seven matches between 2-23 June. Likewise second-placed Australia. The Kookaburras have five matches to play but they are all in Europe and all against teams who have proven themselves more than capable of seeing a game out.So, with three weeks of league matches left, there is still plenty to play for among all the men's teams. The middle of the table is particularly tight, with Netherlands, Argentina, Great Britain and Germany all jostling for position.
