With just 14 days until the start of the Rabobank Hockey World Cup, four men's teams and four women's teams are currently playing round robin tournaments in Germany. The competitions started yesterday (Friday 16 May) and will finish on Sunday. In the men's competition, England and Belgium are all in the same World Cup pool, while The Netherlands and Germany are in the other, so the coaches and players will be wary of giving too much away over the course of this tournament. In the women's competition, The Netherlands and Japan are both in World Cup pool A, while England and Germany face each other in pool B.
Men's Four Nations tournament in Dusseldorf
A quartet of sides who are all hoping to do well in the Rabobank Hockey World Cup are currently doing battle in the Four Nations Tournament in Dusseldorf, Germany. The Netherlands, England, Belgium and home side Germany will play a round robin over four days, and this will be an ideal opportunity for the coaches to size up the opposition as well as try out their own squads.
With just two weeks until the start of the Rabobank Hockey World Cup, there will be some trepidation regarding injury, so players who are carrying slight injuries or returning from rehabilitation are likely to be rested. One such player is England's Adam Dixon who is returning from an ankle injury and so is not appearing at this event.
In the first round of matches, Germany drew 2-2 with Belgium and The Netherlands beat England 3-1. Today The Netherlands face Belgium at 12:00, while Germany play England at 14:30. In the final round of matches England will play their World Cup pool A rivals Belgium at 11:30 and Germany will face the Netherlands at 14:00.
Women's Four Nations tournament in Bremen
Australia, England, Japan and Germany are currently playing a round robin of matches in Bremen, where all four teams will be making last minute tweaks to their patterns of play in preparation for the Rabobank Hockey World Cup. In the first round of matches Australia beat England 4-2, while Germany recorded a 1-0 win over Japan. Anna Flanagan found the goal twice in the Hockeyroos victory, after Lily Owsley had given England an early lead.
The next round of matches taking place today (Saturday 17 May), Australia face Japan at 13:00 and Germany play England at 15:30. For all four teams this will be a warm-up for their World Cup pool matches as Australia are in pool A with Japan, while Germany and England are in pool B together. On Sunday, England face Japan at 11:00, while Germany play Australia at 13:30.
