AHF: Hockey5s Asia Cup 2023: Preview

Lausanne, Switzerland: From 25 August to 2 September, the best Hockey5s teams (men and women) from Asia will go head-to-head in Salalah, Oman, for the opportunity to be crowned the inaugural Asian Hockey5s Champions, with the final three spots (per gender) for the FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024 also up for grabs!

The event will feature both men’s and women’s competition. Bangladesh, Hong Kong China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia and Oman will compete in both men’s and women’s events. Additionally, Chinese Taipei and Thailand will compete in the women’s event that will feature 10 teams, while Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan will play in just the men’s competition, which will see 11 teams participate.

The women’s competition will begin on 25 August and run until 28 August. The men’s event will begin right after, running from 29 August to 2 September.

The event will feature a new format that will see teams split into two pools, i.e., the Elite Pool and the Challenger Pool.

In the women’s competition, India, Malaysia, Japan and Thailand will be placed in the Elite pool. Hong Kong China, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran and Oman will go into the Challenger pool. After the teams complete their pool matches, crossover matches will be played amongst the bottom two teams of the elite pool and the top two teams in the challenger pool. The winners of the crossovers will then take on the top two teams from the elite pool in the semi-finals. The losing semi-finalists will play in the bronze medal match, where the winner, along with the two finalists will qualify for the inaugural FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024.

The full match schedule for the women’s competition can be found here.

In the men’s competition, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, Japan, Oman and Bangladesh will be placed in the Elite pool. Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and Iran will compete in the Challenger pool. After the teams complete their pool matches, the first crossover matches will be played amongst the bottom two teams of the elite pool and the top two teams in the challenger pool. The winners of these two contests will play in the second phase of crossover matches, against the teams in third and fourth place of the elite pool. Finally the two top finishers of the elite pool will take on the winners of the second crossovers in the semi-finals. The losing semi-finalists will play in the bronze medal match, where the winner, along with the two finalists will qualify for the inaugural FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024.

The full match schedule for the men’s competition can be found here.

The inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey5s World Cup 2024 will be played in Muscat, Oman from 24-31 January 2024, with 16 teams competing in both men’s and women’s tournaments.

In the women’s competition Namibia, South Africa and Zambia (Africa), USA, Uruguay and Paraguay (Pan America), Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine (Europe), Australia, New Zealand and Fiji (Oceania) have qualified for the World Cup, alongside hosts Oman. The final three spots will go to the top finishing teams at the Asia Hockey5s World Cup Qualifier.

In the men’s competition Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland (Europe), Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria (Africa), USA, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica (Pan America) and Australia, New Zealand and Fiji (Oceania) have qualified for the World Cup alongside hosts Oman. The final three spots will go to the top finishing teams at the Asia Hockey5s World Cup Qualifier.

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