The International Hockey Federation (FIH) is pleased to announce that the Hockey Champions Challenge 1 2014 events for men and women have been allocated to the Malaysian Hockey Confederation and Scottish Hockey respectively.
The Hockey Champions Challenge 1 is an international hockey event played every two years. Part of the Champions series of events, the Champions Challenge 1 is a key qualification route to the illustrious Champions Trophy which sees the world’s elite compete. Introduced in 2001, the event was set up by the FIH to broaden hockey’s competitive base at world level. The winners of the Champions Challenges 1 in 2014 qualify for the Champions Trophy in 2016.
Both Champions Challenge 1 events are set to be held during the same week starting at the end of April. The men’s event will be held between 26 April and 4 May 2014, with the women’s event starting one day later and also finishing on 4 May 2014.
The men’s event will take place at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium in Kuantan, the state capital of Pahang on the Eastern coast of Malaysia. The venue features two arenas, with a capacity of 7.500 spectators for the main field of play and around 3.500 for the second pitch, with both blue colour turfs laid in April 2012. The venue has previously hosted the Asia Cup in 2009 and a Hockey World League Round 1 event in 2012.
The women’s event will be held at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre at Glasgow Green, a newly constructed venue specially designed to host the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games which will be held from 23 July to 3 August next year. The Women’s Hockey Champions Challenge 1 will be the first international event at the venue which features two hockey pitches.
The men’s competition will include the following teams
- New Zealand (currently 5th in the FIH World Ranking)
- Spain (joint 6th)
- Korea (joint 6th)
- South Africa (12th)
- Malaysia (13th)
- Canada (14th)
- Ireland (15th)
- Japan (16th)
The women’s competition will include the following teams
- Korea (currently 8th in the FIH World Ranking)
- USA (10th)
- South Africa (11th)
- India (12th)
- Belgium (13th)
- Spain (14th)
- Ireland (15th)
- Scotland (19th)
