Attention now turns from blue and green outdoor pitches to the shiny boards of the indoor game. The 2015 men's and women's World Cups are little under six weeks away and the teams are getting ready for another intensive week of hockey competition.
Both the men's and women's event will take place in Leipzig, Germany, scene of the first Indoor World Cup in 2003. The competitions will run simultaneously, hosted in two competition halls, side by side.The prospect of 24 teams battling for the honours in such close proximity will make for a tremendously exciting atmosphere.
While the usual suspects will be there in force, one or two names will be unknown qualities to the indoor hockey fans, which should provide additional excitement to the competition.
The 12 teams contesting the men's event are: Germany, Poland, Austria, Russia, Netherlands, Australia, Czech Republic, Iran, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden and South Africa. Of these, Germany will be the out and out favourites, they are ranked number one in the world indoor hockey rankings and they are unbeaten at this event, having won the previous three editions. Runners-up on each of those occasions were Poland, and the eastern European team will be hoping they can finally knock the Germans off the top spot.
Sweden are the unknown quantity as they have never appeared at the Indoor World Cup before. But the Swedish national team has been on an exciting journey through the tiers of competition and has now earned the right to contest the biggest prize of all. Goalkeeper Niclas Franzen says: "We will be playing against people who, in many cases, live on the hockey field. In Europe we have played against countries that have a thousand time more players than us, but we can match them. For the World Cup I hope we reach the quarter finals and then blaze into the semi-finals."
Iran come into the competition after winning the Asian Men's Indoor title in some style. They beat Malaysia in the final, after racking up victories in the pool matches of 15-1, 16-0 and 12-0 over Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Malaysia respectively. Top goal scorer at that event, Norouzaddeh Reza, will be a player to watch.
With the Hockey World Cup for the outdoor game under their collective belts, the Australian team will be hoping to make an impact in a version of the sport in which they have never enjoyed any medal-winning success. Anthony Potter, head coach of the Australian men's squad, says: "I'm confident this group of players will make an impact at the World Cup. A top six finish is our focus." One familiar surname on the team list will be Ogilvie. Kookaburra debutant Flynn Ogilvie will play for the first time, joining his brothers, Kurt and Heath in the squad – Heath Ogilvie will be playing in his third world cup.
The women's competition has also been dominated by Germany, who have won two of the previous three editions. The Netherlands won the event in 2007, when Germany had to settle for bronze. Competing against these two giants of the game will be Austria, Belarus, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Australia, Poland, Canada, Kazakhstan, Belgium and South Africa.
Ukraine will be a team hoping to continue their pattern of improvement. They finished in bronze medal position in the 2011 World Cup, after defeating Belarus. And in the Indoor Nations Championship II in January 2014, they won the second tier event. This secured their place at the World Cup and meant they are now promoted to the Championship – the top tier of indoor competition in Europe – for the 2016 season.
Also promoted into the Championship along with Ukraine, was Belgium, a team that has been making giant strides forwards in both the outdoor and indoor versions of the game. Belgium's second place finish in the Indoor Nations Championship II means they will now be making their Indoor World Cup debut in Germany.
South Africa's women's team have been on their travels in preparation for the event. Head coach Lennie Botha was delighted that his players were able to participate in a top level event prior to the World Cup. A four-nations event in Toronto, Canada, at the start of December, meant South Africa were able to pitt themselves against Argentina and the USA as well as fellow World Cup participants, Canada. "This was an exciting opportunity for us as no South African women's national team has had the opportunity to play in an overseas series in preparation for a World Cup."
The Hockey Indoor World Cup takes place from 4-8 February 2015. All teams will play twice on the first two days of competition, and the final day will conclude with the playoffs and finals.
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