A history of the Indoor Hockey World Cup
Two local hockey players will feature in the sixth edition of the Indoor Hockey World Cup in hosted in Pretoria.
With South Africa hosting the Indoor Hockey World Cup for the first time since the tournament’s inception, the men and women in green and gold are hoping to bring the heat to the national competition being held outside of Europe for the first time.
According to the International Hockey Federation website, the Indoor Hockey World Cup was first held in 2003 and has since hosted five editions of the tournament. The South African women will feature in the event for the fourth time, while the men will make their fifth appearance.
The 2022 edition of the world cup was scheduled to take place in Belgium but was cancelled due to Covid restrictions. It was then moved to this year with matches to take place at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria.
The SA men’s and women’s teams are ranked 11th and 14 respectively but are looking to impress with their skill in front of a home crowd. They will be hoping to make the top four in their pools to make the quarterfinals. The finals take place on February 11.
SA men are looking to finish in the top 10 as their highest finish in a tournament was 10th in the 2003 edition. The women’s highest finish was ninth in 2015.
In the 2018 edition, Austria was the winners in the men’s division with Germany runners-up. For the women, Germany won their third title and the Netherlands came second.
Women’s Pool A:
- Australia
- Austria
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- United States.
Women’s Pool B:
- Belgium
- Canada
- Czech Republic
- Kazakhstan
- Namibia
- Ukraine.
Men’s Pool A:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Kazakhstan
- Namibia
- Netherlands
- New Zealand.
Men’s Pool B:
- Argentina
- Australia
- Czech Republic
- Iran
- South Africa
- United States.
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