Glasgow is home of hockey this week as Scottish Hockey has the duty of hosting the women’s Champions Challenge 1 simultaneously with a men’s 4-Nations. The men’s event will feature a three-day round-robin with a final and semi-final taking place on 29 April. Joining Scotland in the event are world-ranked No. 4 England, No. 5 Belgium and No. 11 Argentina. All three teams will be preparing for the big dance, the Rabobank Hockey World Cup, in The Hague on the 31 May to 15 June.
Time will not be wasted as England and Argentina will go head-to-head in the first game of the series on 25 April, while Scotland will host Belgium.
ENGLAND
Most recently, England hosted Ireland for a test match, where the home side came out on top 3-0 thanks to two goals from 26-year-old striker Ashley Jackson. England’s last major competition was in the Hero Hockey World League Final in January where they had a perfect round of pool play. The team lost out in a penalty shoot out to New Zealand in their semi-final, going on to finish third overall after a narrow 2-1 win over Australia.
BELGIUM
After two Belgian teams qualified for the Euro Hockey League (EHL) Final Four, there is no shortage of play for the Belgium national squad. In late March, Belgium hosted World Cup hosts the Netherlands for a test game where they drew 3-3 with Tanguy Cosyns making his mark with two penalty corner goals. In the Hero Hockey World League Final, Belgium finished fifth overall with a 2-1 win over India after tough pool-play match ups that included Australia, Argentina and the Netherlands.
ARGENTINA
Challenging two top-10 ranked teams in the world will be key for Argentina, whose first game of the Hockey World Cup will be against hosts, Netherlands. The 2013 Pan American Cup champions cruised through the South American Odesur Games in early March and will use the upcoming 6-Nations as their biggest preparation for the World Cup. Argentina finished in eighth at the Hero Hockey World League Final despite finishing second and ahead of the Netherlands in pool play.
SCOTLAND
Hosts Scotland have a big year ahead as hosts of this tournament as well as the upcoming Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July. Scotland will be eager for international competition, with their last major event being the Hockey World League Round 2, hosted last May in France. Scotland boast heavy experience in cap centurions Niall Stott, Chris Nelson, Kenny Bain, Iain Scholefield, Gareth Hall and William Marshall.
For tickets, match schedule and more visit the Scottish Hockey website and the Champions Challenge 1 event page.
Watch games live via the FIH YouTube Channel.
