FIH Series Finals | India to take on Russia in their tournament opener
The Indian men’s hockey team will meet Russia in their first game of the upcoming International Hockey Federation (FIH) Series Finals to be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. The tournament, involving eight teams in total, is an Olympic qualifier event and will be held from June 6 to 15.
With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in mind, the Indian men’s team will take to the field in the upcoming FIH Series Finals. After losing the quarter-final battle at the same venue during the World Cup and finishing the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in the second place, the Indians will take on Russia first in their opening encounter on June 6.
India is placed in Pool A with teams like Poland, Uzbekistan and Russia while South Africa, Japan, USA and Mexico are in the other pool for the tournament with the final scheduled to be played on June 15. After meeting Russia in their first encounter, world no. 5 India will play Poland on June 7 and Uzbekistan on June 10. The tournament is going to be the first important assignment for the newly-appointed chief coach Graham Reid.
The Indian women’s hockey team will also play the FIH Series Finals in Hiroshima, Japan from June 15 to 23. The Indian team is placed in Pool A alongside Poland, Fiji and Uruguay. Hosts Japan alongside Chile, Russia and Mexico are the four other teams in the competition. The Indian women will open their campaign in Hiroshima against Uruguay on the first day of the tournament and then take on Poland and Fiji on June 16 and 18 respectively.
The two top teams from each FIH Series finals will make it to the FIH Olympic qualifiers which will be held in October and November this year.
