AHF: Day 1 preview: Men’s competition dominates proceedings on Paris 2024 Olympic opener

The opening day of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 promises to be an absolutely thrilling affair, with all 12 men’s teams in action and two high-profile fixtures in the women’s competition set to be played in front of packed crowds at the magnificent Yves-du-Manoir Hockey Stadium.

The first six matches of the Paris 2024 Olympic hockey competition all take place in the men’s tournament, the action the beginning at 10:00 (CEST) with a mouthwatering clash between Pool A rivals Great Britain and Spain on Pitch 1. While Great Britain enter the competition in confident mood and will be determined to get their quest for Olympic gold off to a flying start, Spain’s Red Sticks know that they also have a squad capable of going deep into this tournament.

At 10:30 on Pitch 2, reigning Olympic champions Belgium begin their title defence against Ireland, a team that remarkably claimed two victories over the Red Lions in this season’s FIH Hockey Pro League, in Pool B.

The 12:45 match on Pitch 1 sees a Pool A battle between the reigning European and African continental champions as two-time Olympic champions the Netherlands meet South Africa.

One of the most eye-catching fixtures of the opening day takes place on pitch 2 at 13:15, as Tokyo 2020 silver medallists and FIH Hockey Pro League winners Australia take on Pool B challengers Argentina, the Olympic gold medallists from Rio 2016. The evening session begins at 1700 with a potentially epic Pool A encounter as home favourites France face a monumental clash against Germany, the reigning world champions and four times Olympic gold medallists, on Pitch 1. While Germany will be seen by many as favourites, the thousands of French fans packed into Yves-du-Manoir will create an electric atmosphere in support of the hosts.

The final men’s match of the day takes place on Pitch 2 at 17:30, with eight times Olympic gold medallists and Tokyo bronze medal winners India going head-to-head with 1976 Olympic champions New Zealand.

A superb opening day of action is topped off by the first matches of the women’s competition. A Pool B Pan-American derby match between Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallists Argentina and USA takes place on Pitch 1 at 1945, while reigning Olympic, World, European and FIH Hockey Pro League champions the Netherlands face hosts France, a Pool A match taking place on Pitch 2 at 20:15. Some fascinating Olympic goalscoring statistics for you. The Netherlands women and India men are the highest scoring teams in Olympic hockey history. The Oranje have netted 166 goals in the ten Games in which they have competed, 20 more than the 146 netted by second placed Australia. India’s 452 sees them top the men’s table ahead of Australia, who have registered 330 goals in Olympic competition. These and more statistics can be found on the FIH Data Hub by clicking here.

The hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 take place from Saturday 27 July to Friday 9 August. Both the men’s and women’s competitions feature 12 teams, split into two pools of six ahead of quarter-finals, semi-finals and medal matches. For more information about the hockey competitions at Paris 2024, visit Olympics.Hockey.

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Source: FIH.hockey