New Delhi: The Indian women’s team has been placed in Pool A along with defending champion Great Britain and world number one Netherlands for next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games. Germany, Ireland and South Africa are the other teams in the pool.
Ranked ninth in the world, the Indian women’s team had qualified for the Olympics after beating US 6-5 on aggregate in the qualifiers held at the Kalinga stadium in Bhubaneswar earlier this month.
Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Spain, China and host Japan form the Pool B.
Meanwhile, the Indian men’s hockey team have been clubbed alongside defending champion Argentina and world number one Australia in Pool A. The other three teams in India’s pool are Spain, New Zealand and Japan.
Ranked fifth in the world, India had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics after beating Russia 11-3 on aggregate in the qualifiers earlier this month.
Pool B comprises of Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Canada and South Africa in the groupings announced by world governing body FIH.
“To determine the composition of the pools, the same process has been applied as for the Olympic Games Rio 2016. With all participating teams being ranked among the top 16 teams of the current FIH World Rankings, fans can expect thrilling hockey encounters in Tokyo next year,” the FIH said in a media release on Saturday.
The Olympic hockey tournaments will be staged in the Oi Hockey Stadium from July 25 to August 7 next year. IANS