With the start of the 4th Indoor Hockey World Cup in Leipzig, Germany drawing ever closer, we take a look at some facts and figures regarding the competing teams as well as highlighting a few impressive historical statistics from the first three editions.
1: Germany’s men and women are both number 1 in the FIH Indoor World Rankings and enter the event as reigning World Champions. The home favourites were also winners of the EuroHockey Indoor Nations Championship in 2012, an event that also took place at the Arena Leipzig.
4: Goalkeepers Shankar Premakanthan (Canada) and Roman Rogov (Russia) will be competing in their fourth Indoor World Cup, being veterans of the inaugural tournament in Leipzig in 2003. Rogov’s compatriot Evgeny Mokrousov is also competing in his fourth IWC. Poland’s Rafal Grotowski played in the first three IWCs and will be back in Leipzig but this time as Assistant Coach. On the women’s side, Belarus captain Volha Shyntar will be competing in her fourth IWC, while Marieke Dijkstra of the Netherlands returns to Leipzig in the role of Head Coach for the Dutch team having been featured on the field during the first three IWCs.
8: Russia’s Dmitry Azarov holds the record for most goals in a men’s Indoor World Cup match, having netted eight times in a 12-6 triumph over Switzerland at the 2007 tournament in Vienna. Remarkably, all of Azarov’s goals came from open play and helped him take the tournament top scorer title with 18 goals.
16: Two 16-year-olds will be competing at the Indoor World Cup in Leipzig. Anna Kolarova (DOB: 8 October 1998) of the Czech Republic is the youngest women’s player in the rosters, while Canada’s Lyle Fernandez (DOB: 25 May 1988) takes the honour in the men’s event.
21: France’s Frederic Soyez netted 21 goals at the 2003 Indoor World Cup in Leipzig, the highest ever tally by an individual at a men’s IWC. Soyez netted 13 field goals, four penalty corners and four penalty strokes at the event, including a six-goal haul in his team’s 8-6 victory over Switzerland to take the bronze medal. Dmitry Azarov (RUS – 18) finished top scorer at Vienna 2007, with Robert Tigges (NED – 16) proving himself as the most lethal finisher at Poznan 2011.
24: Germany icon Natascha Keller holds the record for scoring more goals than any other individual, man or woman, at an Indoor World Cup thanks to her staggering tally of 24 at Leipzig 2003. Keller netted 17 field goals and seven penalty corners, including eight in one match against Trinidad & Tobago. Fellow German Julia Mueller (18) finished top scorer at Vienna 2007, with Netherlands’ Belle van Meer (11) topping the scorer’s chart at Poznan 2011.
27.6: Belarus and South Africa are the joint oldest women’s teams competing at the Indoor World Cup 2015 with an average age of 27.6, while Austria’s average age of 22.8 makes them the youngest.
29.5: The average age of the Canadian men’s team is 29.5, making them the oldest competing in the men’s Indoor Hockey World Cup 2015. Austria, like their female counterparts, are the youngest, with an average age of 23.4.
37: Kazakhstan’s Gulnara Imangaliyeva (DOB: 30 November 1977) is the oldest player competing in the women’s tournament, being 37 the event begins on Wednesday 4th February.
41: Canadian legend Ken Pereira is the oldest player competing in the Indoor World Cup, being 41 (DOB: 12 July 1973) when the event begins on Wednesday 4th February.
321: The inaugural women’s Indoor World Cup in 2003 featured 321 goals and remains the highest scoring women’s IWC to date, averaging over 8.45 goals per game. 287 goals were scored in the 2007 event in Vienna (7.55 goals per game) with 213 goals registered at the Poznan 2011 tournament (5.60 goals per game).
372: As with the women, the men’s Indoor World Cup of 2003 remains the highest scoring IWC to date, with 372 goals and an average over 9.79 goals per game. 328 goals were scored in the 2007 event in Vienna (8.63 goals per game) with 288 goals registered at Poznan 2011 (7.58 goals per game).
1809: The total number of goals scored in all three previous Indoor World Cups is 1809, with the men racking up 988 and the women netting 821. The men are likely to burst through the 1000 goal marker on the opening day of the tournament, while the women could easily surpass the same target at some stage during this event.
Remember, we will be providing full coverage of the event via the tournament microsites (men & women) as well as via our social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Be sure to keep track of the action!
Indoor World Cup Medalists
Men
Leipzig 2003: GOLD: Germany. SILVER: Poland. BRONZE: France
Vienna 2007: GOLD: Germany. SILVER: Poland. BRONZE: Spain
Poznan 2011: GOLD: Germany. SILVER: Poland. BRONZE: Austria
Women
Leipzig 2003: GOLD: Germany. SILVER: Netherlands. BRONZE: France
Vienna 2007: GOLD: Netherlands. SILVER: Spain. BRONZE: Germany
Poznan 2011: GOLD: Germany. SILVER: Netherlands. BRONZE: Ukraine
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