Hockey5s Oceania Cup 2023-24 will commence next week

Hockey5s Oceania Cup will inaugurate on the 10th of July when the top seven team from Oceania will face off each other in Australia

(Hockey news) From 10 to 14 July, the seven best teams from Oceania will go head-to-head in Gold Coast, Australia, for the opportunity to be crowned the inaugural champions of the Hockey5s Oceania Cup, with three spots up for grabs in the FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024.

The event will feature both men’s and women’s competitions. Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu will be the teams competing in both men’s and women’s events. Unfortunately, Samoa, who were originally a part of the competition, had to withdraw due to visa issues.

The tournament begins with the men’s match featuring Tonga taking on Fiji at 11:00 local time (AEST) on 10 July, with the women’s event starting later in the day at 15:00 AEST, with hosts Australia taking on Tonga.

The event will feature a round-robin stage with all seven teams playing each other once. The top four teams at the end of the opening stage will qualify for the semi-finals, while the remaining three teams will play in the 5-7 classification matches. Following the semi-finals, the losing semi-finalists will play in the bronze medal match where the winner will join the two finalists in qualifying for the FIH Hockey5s World Cup Oman 2024.

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 from Africa have qualified for the World Cup, alongside hosts Oman. USA, Uruguay, and Paraguay have qualified from Pan America while Netherlands, Poland, and Ukraine have qualified from Europe. Apart from the three teams from Oceania, three further teams from Asia will also qualify for the World Cup later this year.

In the men’s competition Netherlands, Poland, and Switzerland from Europe, and Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria from Africa have qualified for the World Cup, alongside hosts Oman. USA, Trinidad & Tobago, and Jamaica are the three qualifiers from Pan America. Apart from the three teams from Oceania, three further teams from Asia will also qualify for the World Cup later this year.

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