Schedule of World Cup Hockey 2010 in India

Men’s Hockey world cup 2010 kicks off from 28 February in Delhi, India. The 14-day tournament will come to an end with the final match being taken place on 13 February. The tournament was advanced by a week to avoid a clash with the IPL 2010 which commences from 12 March. All of the 38 matches will be held at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi. This is the second time India is going to host men’s hockey world cup. India first hosted the tournament in 1982 when Mumbai (formerly Bombay) was the host city.

Men’s hockey world cup 2010 will be the 12^th edition of the tournament which first took place in Spain in 1971. Initially, the tournament was held every 2 years, but from 1975This will be 12^th edition of the tournament which first took place in 1971 in Spain. Initially, men’s hockey world cup was held after every 2 years, but from 1978 onwards the tournament has been held after every 4 years.

In a lavish ceremony held on 27 July 2009 at the Le Meridien Hotel, New Delhi, it was revealed that Hero Honda, a renowned motorbike manufacturer, would be the title sponsor of the tournament. So, the tournament’s official name has been Hero Honda FIH World Cup 2010.

India’s hosting right came under a threat when FIH (International Hockey Federation) ensured that the tournament would not take place in India unless it had a democratically elected governing body for hockey. Here, it is worth mentioning that Indian Hockey Federation was dissolved and its president Kanwar Pal Singh Gill was sacked by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on 28 April 2008 following a series of controversies over the administrative and selection issues. IOA initially formed an ad-hoc committee to run the game in the country. Under the pressure of FIH, Hockey India was formed in July 2009 by IOA. However, FIH said that Hockey India must hold an election before the men’s world cup 2010. Hockey India initially set 29 January as the date for the election, but it was postponed due to complications regarding state affiliation issues. This was the second time Hockey India (HI) election was postponed. HI president Ashok Kumar Mattoo has ensured that the election is now going to take place on 7 February 2010. Antonio Van Ondarza, the vice-president of FIH, has been appointed as a FIH observer for the election.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has said that it considers the men’s hockey world cup as a preparatory tournament for Commonwealth Games 2010 which is supposed to take place in Delhi in October. Suresh Kalmadi, the IOA president, said that this tournament would help the organizers of Commonwealth Games. The profit of the world cup will be shared by the organizers and FIH. However, FIH’s share would be spent for the development of hockey in India.

Qualification to Men’s Hockey World Cup 2010

There are 12 teams participating in the Hero Honda Men’s Hockey World Cup 2010 tournament. Five continental champions and the host country were given automatic qualification to the world cup finals. India has been qualified as host nation. Five continental champions are:

Champion Team	Continent	Tournament
South Africa	Africa	Africa Cup of Nations 2009
South Korea	Asia Cup	2009 Men’s Hockey Asia Cup
England	Europe	Men’s Euro Hockey Nations Championship 2009
Australia	Oceania	Men’s Oceania Cup 2009
Canada	Pan America	Men’s Pan American Cup 2009

Besides these five continental champions and host India, there are six other teams who got the world cup berths. Out of these six teams, three were decided through 3 qualifying tournaments and other three teams got the world cup tickets on the basis of FIH (International Hockey Federation) ranking at the end of the Olympics Games 2008 in Beijing.

3 teams who were qualified for the hockey world cup 2010 through FIH ranking are from Europe. They are:

Germany (1^st in the ranking)

Spain (3^rd in the ranking)

Netherlands (4^th in the ranking)

FIH ranking at the end of the Beijing Olympic Games 2008:

Ranking Position	Team	Continent
1	Germany	Europe
2	Australia	Oceania
3	Spain	Europe
4	Netherlands	Europe
5	New Zealand	Oceania

Germany got into the world cup finals as no. 1 ranked team, followed by Spain (3^rd) and Netherlands (4^th) to make up the 3 vacant places to be decided on the basis of ranking. Australia, who was at no. 2, ensured their world cup berth as the champion of Oceania region. So, their place went to 4^th ranked Netherlands. If India could qualify both as host as well as continental champion, then 5^th ranked New Zealand from Oceania could have qualified for the world cup finals on the basis of ranking (New Zealand later on qualified winning their qualifying tournament).

Qualifying Tournaments

There were 3 qualifying tournaments held in between 1 November 2009 and 15 December 2009 to determine three remaining participants of the tournament. Three teams reached through the qualifying tournaments are: Pakistan, New Zealand and Argentina. For the 3 qualifying tournaments, 18 teams were decided on the basis of FIH ranking at the end of the Olympics Games 2008. Each of the 3 tournaments consists of 6 teams and the three winners of the tournaments got into the men’s hockey world cup 2010. Participating teams of the qualifying tournaments are:

Tournament	Participating Teams	Winner
1st Qualifier	France, Italy Japan, Pakistan, Poland, Russia	Pakistan
2nd Qualifier	Austria, China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Scotland, Wales	New Zealand
3rd Qualifier	Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Czech Republic, Ireland, USA	Argentina

So, the 12 participants of Hero Honda Men’s Hockey World Cup 2010 are:

Participating Team	Continent	How Qualified
Argentina	Pan America	Qualifier
Australia	Oceania	Continental Winner
Canada	Pan America	Continental Winner
England	Europe	Continental Winner
Germany	Europe	FIH Ranking
India	Asia	Host
Netherlands	Europe	FIH Ranking
New Zealand	Oceania	Qualifier
Pakistan	Asia	Qualifier
South Africa	Africa	Continental Winner
South Korea	Asia	Continental Winner
Spain	Europe	FIH Ranking

Men’s Hockey 2010 World Cup Format

Twelve participants of the tournament will be divided into two pools of 6 teams each. In each pool, all of the six teams will play against each other once in a round robin league system. Winning team of each game will be awarded 3 points, while the losing team will not earn any point. For drawn matches, both teams will be given 1 point each. So, each of the 12 teams will play 5 matches in the preliminary stage of the tournament. Based on the points achieved through the matches played in the preliminary stage, top two teams from each pool will progress to the semi final. Winners of the two semi finals will meet in the final, while the loosing semi finalists will take on each other in the third and fourth place deciding match.

Teams who will fail to make it to the semi final will compete for the places starting from 5^th to 12^th through four more matches. Third placed teams from each pool will take on each other for the 5^th place. Winning team will win the 5^th place, while the losing side will finish 6^th in the tournament. In the same way, teams finished 4^th in each pool will play for the 7^th place and this match will determine the 7^th and 8^th places. Teams finishing 5^th in both pool will face each other in a playoff to determine the 9^th and 10^th places. Last two places (11^th and 12^th) will be decided through the playoff between the teams finishing 6^th in each pool in the preliminary round.

Teams in Pool A and Pool B are given below:

Pool A	Pool B
Argentina	Australia
Canada	England
Germany	India
Netherlands	Pakistan
New Zealand	South Africa
South Korea	Spain

Here, you can get the full schedule of Men’s Hockey World Cup 2010:

Schedule of Men’s Hockey World Cup 2010
Stage/ Match	Date	Competing Teams	Time (Local)	Venue
Preli-minary	28 Feb Sun	South Africa vs Spain	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Australia vs England	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		India vs Pakistan	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
	1 Mar Mon	New Zealand vs Canada	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Germany vs South Korea	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Netherlands vs Argentina	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
	2 Mar Tues	South Africa vs England	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Pakistan vs Spain	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		India vs Australia	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
	3 Mar Wed	Canada vs Germany	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Argentina vs South Korea	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		New Zealand vs Netherlands	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
	4 Mar Thurs	South Africa vs Australia	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		England vs Pakistan	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		India vs Spain	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
	5 Mar Fri	South Korea vs New Zealand	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Netherlands vs Canada	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Germany vs Argentina	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
	6 Mar Sat	Australia vs Spain	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		South Africa vs Pakistan	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		India vs England	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
	7 Mar Sun	South Korea vs Canada	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		New Zealand vs Argentina	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Germany vs Netherlands	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
	8 Mar Mon	Spain vs England	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Australia vs Pakistan	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		India vs South Africa	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
	9 Mar Tues	Germany vs New Zealand	16:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Netherlands vs South Korea	18:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
		Canada vs Argentina	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
11th-12th Place Play-off	11 Mar Thur	Pool A 6th vs Pool B 6th	15:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
First Semi- Final	11 Mar Thur	Pool A 1st vs Pool B 2nd	18:05	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
Second Semi- Final	11 Mar Thur	Pool A 2nd vs Pool B 1st	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
9th-10th Place Play-off	12 Mar Fri	Pool A 5th vs Pool B 5th	15:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
7th-8th Place Play-off	12 Mar Fri	Pool A 4th vs Pool B 4th	18:05	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
5th-6th Place Play-off	12 Mar Fri	Pool A 3rd vs Pool B 3rd	20:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
3rd Place Play-off	13 Mar Sat	Looser of 1st Semi-Final vs Looser of 2nd Semi-Final	15:35	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi
Final	13 Mar Sat	Winner of 1st Semi-Final vs Winner of 2nd Semi-Final	18:05	Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi