Doha: Hosts Qatar will begin their campaign in the Men’s World Hockey League Round One (FIHHWL) against Azerbaijan on November 27, at Al Rayyan Stadium, the Qatar Hockey Federation (QHF) said.
Five countries will be seen in action in Round One of the FIHHWL, with hosts Qatar and Oman, representing the GCC.
Turkey, Sri Lanka and Azerbaijan complete the list for the November 27 to December 2 championship.
The tournament will be played at Al Rayyan Stadium, where the 2006 Asian Games hockey tournament was held.
QHF General Secretary Mohammed Nazer saidRound One of the FIHHWL will witness some closely fought encounters, as all teams are coming to Qatar with well-balanced and well prepared squads for the tournament.
“According to information available, Azerbaijan will come with a team full of ex-Olympians and also have some quality players from Pakistan who have opted to play for Azerbaijan.
Oman, one of the two GCC countries in action in the tournament, had beaten Qatar in the last Test series held in Qatar, so they know the local conditions,” said the QHF official.
Regarding the hosts Qatar, Nazer said the local boys have benefitted from their sting in the National Hockey League of Malaysia.
“We are have set a target to finish among the top two. Seven players of Qatar National team were part of the Johor Hockey Association which won the Presidents Cup in Johor, Malaysia recently,” he said.
A QFA official added: “The experience of playing in the Malaysian league will be an added advantage besides playing at home.”
Qatar made its international hockey debut against Oman, ranked seventh in Asia, in a Test match at the Al Rayyan Stadium in March this year. Qatar lost both the matches after having taken the lead.
In April, Qatar created history by winning their first ever international fixture when they edged the visiting Brazilian team 3-2 in the first Test of a 5-match series at Al Rayyan Stadium.
Nazer said Sri Lanka team matches will attract a large of fans from the island nation.
“Sri Lanka is likely to be crowd favourites and we are optimistic of a large turnout of fans for their matches. Of the fifth team in the tournament, Turkey is a surprise package,” he said.
FIHHWL which will comprise four rounds, started in August 2012, and is slotted to finish in February 2014. The FIHHWL competition is organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), will be held over two years, and will serve as qualifiers for the Olympics and the Hockey World Cup. There are four rounds of competition.
Teams that are lower ranked in the FIH ranking are slotted in FIHHWL Round One.
Teams ranked 9 to 16 are given byes to the second round while nations ranked 1-8 are given byes until Round Four.
Various tournaments will be staged in the first three rounds, with eight teams fighting it out in the concluding round.
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