Wednesday 01 / May / 2024
MUSCAT: The stage is all set for action in the inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024, which begins at the newly-built Hockey Oman Stadium in Al Amerat from Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the FIH Hockey5s World Cup was inaugurated by His Highness Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, in the presence of world hockey federation (FIH) president Tayyab Ikram, and other dignitaries.
The event will begin with 16 women teams in action from Wednesday till 27 January while the 16 men teams will be in action from 27-31 January.
On Wednesday a big stride towards achieving the aim of creating a tournament to “boost the development of hockey globally through the promotion of the FIH Hockey5s World Cup” will be taken as the event will feature six
nations who will be participating in their first ever FIH Hockey World Cup, across both genders and all formats.
From Asia, it’ll be the men’s and women’s teams of hosts Oman along with the women’s team of Thailand while from Oceania, the men’s and women’s teams from Fiji will be making their debut at an FIH Hockey World Cup. From Africa, it’ll be the women’s team from Zambia and from the Americas, the Jamaican men’s team and the women’s team from Paraguay will represent their nations, in their first ever appearance at an FIH Hockey World Cup.
Speaking ahead of the action on Wednesday, Shakir Munir, an official of Oman Hockey Association (OHA) said, “We are very happy to see that the Hockey5s format is gathering such momentum and Oman is making history by hosting the inaugural edition. We are excited to host teams from across the world and hope we can engage better using this format and ensure hockey continues and grows in Oman.”
“For Oman, the first ever participation in an FIH Hockey World Cup marks a significant milestone for both men and women’s teams and is a fitting reward for the efforts made by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth and OHA, despite the challenges faced to host this prestigious event,” he added.
For the hockey fans of Oman, after watching their nation host top level hockey tournaments over the past few years, the FIH Hockey5s World Cup will give them their first opportunity to cheer for their home teams in an international competition and the teams themselves are banking on their home support to lift them at the tournament.
Sami Al Laun, captain of the Oman men’s team said, “We are very excited to play that big tournament in our life, and even more so since we are hosting it. I’m inviting all our fans to come and enjoy the matches. We need their support! I wish all the best to all teams.”
The FIH Hockey5s World Cup will begin on Wednesday at 8am, local time, as Australia take on Ukraine in the opening encounter of the women’s competition. There will be 15 more matches from the Women’s World Cup on opening day, as all 16 teams will play two of their pool matches on day 1.
The inaugural edition of the Hockey5s World Cup will see participation from across the globe with 16 men’s and 16 women’s teams, from across 5 continents, competing for the title of the first ever Hockey5s World Champions.
At the end of the pool stage, the two top teams in each pool will proceed to the quarterfinals and stay in the hunt for the title.
The bottom two teams, however, will play for the new ‘Challenger Trophy’ introduced upon an initiative from FIH President Tayyab Ikram, as a sign of encouragement for all teams. With six nations playing their first ever FIH World Cup, the additional silverware will keep all 16 teams in the hunt for success, even if they can’t make it into the quarterfinals of the event.
The teams were all placed into their respective pools during the draw ceremony, held on 3 September 2023, in Muscat.
