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Indian women in tough group

India has been placed in pool 'A' along with Germany, Ireland, Spain and the United States for the women's qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games.

The qualifying tournament will be held at Milton Keynes in England from March 24 to April 2, 2000, it was announced in Brussels after the International Hockey Federation (FIH) celebrated its 75th anniversary in Alexandria, Egypt, where important decision were taken.

The Indian men's team has already qualified for the Sydney Olympics next year, having won the Asian Games gold medal in Bangkok.

Pool B of the women's qualifier has China, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand and Russia. Those who have already qualified are South Africa (winners of the all-Africa games), Argentina (winners of the 13th Pan American Games), Australia (hosts and winners of the Olympic Games), Korea (winner of the Asian Games) and The Netherlands (winners at the 5th European Nations Cup).

In the men's qualifying tournament, to be held in Osaka, Japan, from March 9 to 20, pool 'A' has Belgium, Great Britain, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Poland while pool 'B' has Argentina, Belarus, Malaysia, Pakistan, Spain and Switzerland.

Already there in the Sydney Games, besides India, are South Africa (winners of the 7th Africa Games), Australia (hosts and winners of the Oceania Cup), Canada (winners of the Pan American Games), Germany (winners of the 8th European Nations Cup) and The Netherlands (winners of the Olympics at Atlanta).

The FIH also decided that The Netherlands will host the 9th women's Champions Trophy in 2001; England, the men's Champions Trophy and 11th women's Champions Trophy in 2003 and Zimbabwe, the 2nd men's and women's Champions Challenge. A host for the 2001 women's World Cup is yet to be determined.

2000 Champions Trophy field may be expanded
In recognition of the importance of hockey on the sub-continent and in Asia, and in an effort to support the promotion of the sport in these key regions, the FIH council agreed in principle to include both the Pakistan men's team and the Korean women's team in the 2000 Champions Trophies being staged in May/June in Amstelveen, The Netherlands, making for a seven-team field for both events. Both Pakistan and Korea finished in sixth place during the 1999 Champions Trophies held in Brisbane, Australia, and would therefore not normally qualify for the 2000 event.

Whether the decision can actually be implemented, however, is yet to be seen. The FIH council acknowledged that it could only be accomplished if the move did not place undue financial and administrative hardship on the host country, The Netherlands, and on participating teams. The implications of the seven-team field - including increased playing days, increased financial burden, revamping of the match schedule and possible difficulties with ticketing - are now being studied.

Agencies