FIH Series Finals | India gets easy group, to play its matches in Bhubaneswar

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced different pools for the FIH Series Finals to be played across different venues all over the world. There are six finals scheduled to be played between April and June in 2019 in both men’s and women’s category.

The men’s finals would start from April 26 with Malaysia hosting the matches till May 4 in Kuala Lumpur. The second finals would be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar and it will see teams like Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, USA and Uzbekistan along with hosts India. In total there are three pools of eight teams each for both women and men.

“The FIH Series Finals are one of the roads to reach the Olympic Games. Indeed, the top two teams from each FIH Series Finals will secure a place in the Qualification Events for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which will be held in October and November 2019," the FIH said in a release, reported PTI.

Le Touquet in France would host the third round of men’s finals while the women’s events will be hosted in Dublin, Hiroshima and Spain. The Indian women’s team will play Japan, Chile, Fiji, Mexico, Poland, Russia and Uruguay from June 15-23 in Japan’s Hiroshima.

"We can't wait to see the FIH Series Finals to be played. The line-up of teams is quite impressive and the 'road to Tokyo' is at stake, which makes these six events even more attractive,” FIH CEO Thierry Weil said.