FIH releases Pools of 2011 Indoor Hockey World Cup hosted by Poznan, Poland
Indoor hockey is becoming more popular day by day in all the continents of the world. For the first time in the brief history of indoor hockey, five continents are going to participate in the 3rd FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup, which is scheduled in February 2011 at Poznan, Poland.
International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced the groups of men’s and women’s squads for 3rd Indoor Hockey tournament. The Indoor Hockey World Cup, which was started in 2003, is held after every four years.
The debutant men’s hockey team of Iran and women’s squad of Kazakhstan are going to add a new chapter to the history of hockey by representing Asia in the third edition of the Indoor Hockey World Cup.
On the other side, the men’s and women’s squads of Argentina and Uruguay representing South America will also be participating for the first time in the Indoor Hockey Gala. These new entries from Asia and South America illustrate the rising popularity of indoor hockey outside the European region.
The men’s and women’s hockey squads of Namibia along with England’s men’s team will make their maiden appearance in the Indoor World tournament.
Pool A of men’s edition is comprised of two-time world champion Germany, host Poland, the Netherlands, Canada, Namibia and Australia. In the other pool, England is featured with Russia, Czech Republic, United States of America (USA), Iran and Austria.
Germany is eying at a third gold medal by clinching the third edition of the Indoor Hockey World Cup as it won two gold medals earlier in 2007 at Vienna and 2003 at Leipzig.
Champions of EuroHockey League Indoor Nations, Austria and runner up Russia are also being considered favourites of the tournament.
Group A of the women’s competition features Czech Republic, Ukraine, Argentina, Austria, Kazakhstan and the Netherlands, while Uruguay, Germany, Belarus, Australia, Poland and Namibia are included in Group B.
Experts are declaring the former champions of EuroHockey League Indoor Nations, the Netherlands and Ukraine (the most recent champions) as the most favourite among the women’s teams.
Belarus and German women’s teams are also two hardest teams of the event; the home advantage of Poland’s squad will also give a tough time to the guest teams.
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