FIH releases match schedule for Men's WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier in New Zealand

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) released the match schedule for the first of the WorldHockey Olympic Qualifiers. The men's tournament in North Shore City, Auckland, New Zealand (2-10 February 2008) is the first of a total number of six WorldHockey Olympic Qualifiers.

In New Zealand, six men's teams will compete for one spot for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Besides host New Zealand, Argentina, France, Ireland, Trinidad &Tobago and USA will participate. The WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier will be opened with the match between France and Ireland on Saturday 2 February 2008. The tournament is a six teams' single round robin event which will be concluded with a final between the best two teams from the preliminary round on Sunday 10 February 2008. The winner of this final will earn a place in the hockey tournament of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The match schedules for the other five WorldHockey Olympic Qualifiers will be released in due time.

Calendar WorldHockey Olympic Qualifiers for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games:

• 2-10 February 2008: WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier, men (ARG, FRA, IRL, NZL, TRT, USA), North Shore City, Auckland (NZL)
• 1-9 March 2008: WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier, men (AUT, BAN, CHI, GBR, IND, MEX), Santiago (CHI)
• 5-13 April 2008: WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier, men (GER, JPN, MAS, POL, SUI, +1 TBC) Kakamigahara, Gifu (JPN)
• 12-20 April 2008: WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier, women (AZE, BLR, CHI, ESP, KEN, UKR) Baku (AZE).
• 19-27 April 2008: WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier, women (AHO, BEL, FRA, IND, RUS, USA), Kazan (RUS)
• 26 April-4 May: WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier, women (CAN, IRL, ITA, KOR, MAS, URU), Victoria B.C. (Canada)

The match schedule for the WorldHockey Olympic Qualifier men in North Shore City, Auckland (NZL):

Date	Time			Match
Sat 02 Feb 2008	12h00			France			v.	Ireland
	14h00			New Zealand			v.	Trinidad & Tobago
	16h00			Argentina			v.	USA
Sun 03 Feb 2008	13h15			New Zealand			v.	Ireland
	15h15			USA			v.	France
	17h15			Argentina			v.	Trinidad & Tobago
Mon 04 Feb 2008		Rest Day
Tue 05 Feb 2008	14h00			Ireland			v.	Trinidad& Tobago
	16h00			France			v.	Argentina
	18h00			USA			v.	New Zealand
Wed 06 Feb 2008	14h00			Trinidad & Tobago			v.	France
	16h00			New Zealand			v.	Argentina
	18h00			Ireland			v.	USA
Thu 07 Feb 2008		Rest Day
Fri 08 Feb 2008		Rest Day
Sat 09 Feb 2008	10h15			Trinidad & Tobago			v.	USA
	12h15			Argentina			v.	Ireland
	14h15			France			v.	New Zealand
Sun 10 Feb 2008	09h45			5th			v.	6th
	12h15			3rd			v.	4th
	14h45			1st			v.	2nd