The Hockey World League Semi-Finals have brought mixed results for the Pan-American teams who took part. In Buenos Aires, Argentina men finished in second place to secure an automatic Olympic qualification spot, while the Argentine women had to wait until the other women’s Semi-Final in Antwerp had concluded to find out their Rio 2016 fate.
Australia’s win at that event over Oceania rivals New Zealand in the third place play-off meant Argentina women now qualify for the 2016 Olympic Games by virtue of their higher World Ranking – Argentina’s Las Leonas are ranked third, while New Zealand’s Black Sticks are ranked at four.
Speaking after their loss to Germany in the Semi-Finals, Argentina's coach Santi Capurro spoke about the result. Argentina had plenty of chances during the match, but an outstanding performance by Germany goalkeeper Kristina Reynolds in the match and then in the shoot-out meant Germany took the qualification spot.
After the game, Capurro said: "I am proud of my team and how they played but today it just didn't fall our way. We will go back, regroup and come back to contest the Pan-Americans. Whether we had qualified or not, we always look to win every game and the Pan-Ams is our next target."
For Craig Parnham's USA women's team, the Hockey World League Semi-Finals were frustrating. They finished fifth overall therefore must win the Pan-American Games to ensure they are on the field at next year's Olympics. A loss to Argentina in the quarter-finals in the Hockey World League Semi-Finals in Valencia means USA's surge up the rankings and into the top four was brought to a halt.
Canada men achieved positive results in Buenos Aires. A fourth place finish puts them in contention for Olympic qualification as they performed way beyond their world ranking spot.
Canada women however did not do as well. They lost games to China, Argentina, Great Britain and Spain in the pool matches, although some honour was restored when they defeated fellow Pan-Am rivals Uruguay in the 9/10th play-off.
Speaking after their final game, Canada women's coach Ian Rutledge said: “We’re a young team and we need experience and I think this tournament (HWL Semi-Final) has provided us with that. It shows us where we are at and a benchmark for us. We can now go away, grow and work on the areas that we need to be at to compete against the top teams.
“From the tournament perspective, it was a really important tournament for us to attempt to qualify. From a process point of view and a long-term view, this experience will do our young team a world of good."
Experience is certainly something that Uruguay will have gained in Valencia. The team brought flair and excitement to the tournament and improved with every game. As a nation that has no water-based pitch and has not competed at such a high international level before, the South American team performed well. "This has been a great learning curve for us," said captain Sofia Mora.
With qualification spots still up for grabs, nothing will be decided until all the continental qualifiers are completed, and with so much at stake, expect the hockey competitions in Toronto to be extremely competitive.
For more information on the qualifying process and to track who has qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics, click here for the men and here for the women.
