Malaysia and Scotland will provide the platform for six days of scintillating hockey action as eight men's and eight women's teams do battle for a coveted place in the 2016 Champions Trophy. The men's competition, the Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1, takes place in Kuantan, while the women's equivalent will take place in the newly-built National Hockey Centre in Glasgow.
In Kuantan, the tournament runs from 26 April to 4 May, the Glasgow version starts on 27 April and also finishes on 4 May. Both follow the same format, with pool matches followed by quarter-final crossovers, semi-finals and a final.
Among the teams expected to perform well at the Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1 (CC1) are New Zealand, who won silver at the Hero Hockey World League Final in New Delhi this January, and Korea, the current continental champions of Asia. Among the favourites to lift the trophy in Glasgow are Korea, the USA, South Africa and rising stars Belgium.
In the men's competition, New Zealand, Korea and Malaysia will be appearing just a few weeks later in the Rabobank Hockey World Cup in The Hague (31 May-15 June), while in the women's section, Korea, Belgium, USA and South Africa will be playing in Holland. That means that not only is this tournament essential for all teams who have aspirations to step up to Champions Trophy status, but it will also send these teams into the World Cup on the back of six days of high- class competitive hockey.
This year will be the first time France have appeared in the men's CC1, while Ireland, who were debutantes at the 2012 CCI, will hope they can build on the surprise bronze medal they won in Quilmes, Argentina. Host nation Malaysia will have the support of their vocal and enthusiastic home crowd, plus the confidence they will have gained from finishing in second place behind Australia at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup. Also competing in Kuantan will be Japan, Poland and, fresh from a successful Pan Am Indoor World Cup qualifier, Canada.
Every team participating in Glasgow will be looking for their first Champions Challenge gold medal, but none more so than Korea. They have competed in the Champions Trophy on 11 occasions, winning the prestigious event in 1989. Korea will be aiming to take top spot and make a return to Champions Trophy hockey.
Host nation Scotland comes into the tournament as the lowest ranked team but, like the men in Malaysia, the crowds buoyed by Commonwealth Games fever, will be providing vociferous support and Scotland will be hoping to tap into that enthusiasm and perform above their ranking. World Cup competitors South Africa, alongside determined India, Spain and Ireland squads will all be aiming for a podium spot.
Many of the squads consist of a number of players who recently participated in the Junior World Cup, and with these talented youngsters making the step up to senior international hockey, this edition of the Champions Challenge 1 is set to provide two cracking competitions, with the race for medals wide open and the opportunity to see some of the emerging hockey nations making their mark on the international stage.
For more information about both Champions Challenge 1 events visit our official tournament event sites by clicking here for Kuantan and here for Glasgow. The event pages will bring you all of the news coming from the events including written match reports, action photos, official match documents, goal scoring statistics, match highlights and much more. These sites will also publish any late squad changes, with updated rosters being available ahead of the start of competition.
