FIH Men’s Series Finals Kuala Lumpur 2019 26 April – 4 May 2019 Media Kit 1 Contents General Information Page 3: Key contacts and resources Page 4: Welcome message from FIH President Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra Page 5: FIH Series Open & Finals – Questions & Answers Page 9: About Kuala Lumpur and the Bukit Jalil National Hockey Stadium Competition Page 11: Competition format Page 14: Match schedule Page 15: Teams Page 20: Competition officials Useful information Page 21: Event logos for download Page 21: Event Photography Page 22: FIH World Rankings 2 Key contact and resources Contact For all media queries relating to the event, please contact: Sarah Juggins – FIH Event Media Manager Email: [email protected] Event Name: FIH Men’s Series Finals Kuala Lumpur 2019 When: 26 April - 4 May 2019 Where: National Hockey Stadium, Bukit Jalil, 57000, Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia Teams: Canada, Malaysia, China, Austria, Wales, Brazil, Italy, Belarus Event website: https://www.fihseriesfinals.com Broadcast and live streaming Global broadcast and live streaming information will be published on the event website as listed above when it becomes available. In January 2019, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) launched the FIH.live global broadcast platform. This year, all FIH competitions will be available live on FIH.live in every market where a broadcaster will not be showing the matches. This includes the inaugural FIH Pro League, the FIH Series Finals and the FIH Olympic qualifiers. To visit FIH.live, click here. FIH Tournament Management System (TMS) Raw competition data including match starting line-up pdfs, pool tables, top scorers, in-match statistics and daily appointment sheets will be available for the media at https://tms.fih.ch/competitions/1049. Social media The FIH will provide comprehensive coverage of the event via our social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Facebook: facebook.com/fihockey Instagram: instagram.com/fihockey Twitter: twitter.com/fih_hockey Hashtags: #FIHSeriesFinals 3 A message of welcome from Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra, President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). Dear all, On behalf of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the FIH Series Finals, events that are all crucial milestones on the road to earning qualification for the men’s and women’s hockey competitions at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Between April and June of this year, a total of six FIH Series Finals events will be hosted by the National Associations of Malaysia, India, Ireland, France, Japan and Spain. Kuala Lumpur (MAS), Bhubaneswar (IND) and Le Touquet (FRA) will all stage men’s events, with women’s competitions taking place in Banbridge (IRL), Hiroshima (JPN) and Valencia (ESP). Each Finals event will consist of eight teams, with the best performers from last year’s FIH Series Open events taking on a group of nations who pre- qualified for the Finals events due to higher placement in the FIH World Rankings. I am certain that the qualifying nations from the FIH Series Open will be relishing the opportunity to upset the odds against supposedly superior opposition. With berths in the new Olympic qualifiers on the line, not to mention valuable rankings points, it is difficult to overstate the significance of these competitions to all nations taking part. The top two finishers at each of the six FIH Series Finals competitions will win through to those Olympic qualifiers, joining the best performers from the FIH Pro League as well as some of the highest ranked nations in the sport. The Olympic qualifiers are scheduled to take place towards the end of the year and will each feature two nations playing two back-to-back matches for that coveted ticket to Tokyo. The opportunity for even the smallest of hockey playing nations to make their mark, qualify for the Olympic Games and write their own chapter in hockey’s history books is something I passionately believe in. The FIH Series Open saw numerous shock results that defied the FIH World Rankings, and I firmly believe that we will see more of the same in the FIH Series Finals events. I would like to place on record my sincere thanks to the host National Associations for their tireless dedication in their planning and preparation for these events. I hope that the teams, officials and fans who attend these competitions depart with the very best of memories. Yours in hockey, Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra FIH President 4 FIH Series Open & Finals: Questions & Answers What is the FIH Series? Open to all countries not in the FIH Pro League, the FIH Series gives developing hockey-playing nations the opportunity to test themselves against some of the world’s best and to qualify for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The FIH Series is composed of two rounds, played over two years. In line with hockey’s ‘Equally Amazing’ ethos, the competitions and subsequent qualification processes are exactly the same for both the men’s and women’s competitions. The FIH Series Open were continentally based. From all teams competing in this round, 30 teams (15 men’s, 15 women’s) qualified for the FIH Series Finals. Each of the FIH Series Finals will have eight teams playing in them, with berths into the Olympic qualifiers up for grabs. Who competed in the FIH Series Open and how did nations qualify for the FIH Series Finals? All nations affiliated to FIH that were not playing in the FIH Pro League were eligible to enter the FIH Series Open, which took place between June and December 2018. The teams marked in bold achieved qualification for the FIH Series Finals. Date Location Final Standings Website TMS Men: 1: USA, 2: Mexico, 3: https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Puerto Rico, 4: Panama, 5: Salamanca ons/934 5 - 10 Costa Rica (MEX) - Men Event page Jun 2018 Women: 1: Canada, 2: & Women https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Mexico, 3: Puerto Rico, 4: ons/938 Panama, 5: Guatemala Men: 1: Singapore, 2: Thailand, 3: Chinese Taipei, https://tms.fih.ch/competiti 4: Myanmar, 5: Hong Kong ons/939 23 Jun - Singapore China, 6: Indonesia. 1 Jul (SGP) - Men Event page 2018 & Women Women: 1: Malaysia, 2: Thailand, 3: Singapore, 4: https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Kazakhstan, 5: Hong Kong ons/940 China, 6: Indonesia 5 Men: 1: Austria, 2: Wales, 25 - 30 Zagreb https://tms.fih.ch/competiti 3: Croatia, 4: Switzerland, 5: Event page Jun 2018 (CRO) -Men ons/941 Slovakia Wattignies Women: 1: Belarus, 2: 6 - 8 Jul https://tms.fih.ch/competiti (FRA) - Russia, 3: France, 4: Event page 2018 ons/945 Women Austria Men: 1: Vanuatu*, 2: Fiji, 3: https://tms.fih.ch/competiti 15 - 18 Port Vila Solomon Islands, 4: Tonga ons/946 Aug (VAN) – Men Event page Women: 1: Fiji, 2: Vanuatu, 2018 & Women https://tms.fih.ch/competiti 3: Solomon Islands, 4: ons/947 Tonga 21 - 26 Women: 1: Ukraine, 2: Vilnius (LTU) https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Aug Czech Republic, 3: Wales, Event page - Women ons/932 2018 4: Lithuania, 5: Turkey 28 Aug - Men: 1: Poland, 2: Italy, 3: Gniezno https://tms.fih.ch/competiti 2 Sep Ukraine, 4: Czech Republic, Event page (POL) - Men ons/930 2018 5: Lithuania, 6: Cyprus Men: 1: Russia, 2: 4 - 9 Sep Lousada Scotland, 3: Belarus*, 4: https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Event page 2018 (POR) - Men Gibraltar, 5: Portugal, 6: ons/931 Turkey Men: 1: Chile, 2: Brazil, 3: https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Venezuela, 4: Uruguay, 5: ons/942 18 - 23 Santiago Peru, 6: Bolivia Sep (CHI) – Men Event page Women: 1: Chile, 2: 2018 & Women https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Uruguay, 3: Paraguay, 4: ons/943 Brazil, 5: Peru, 6: Bolivia Men: 1: Egypt, 2: https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Zimbabwe, 3: Zambia, 4: Bulawayo ons/1018 7 - 9 Dec Namibia (ZIM) – Men Event page 2018 & Women Women: 1: Namibia, 2: https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Zambia, 3: Zimbabwe ons/1019 17 - 22 Men: 1: Uzbekistan, 2: Lahore (PAK) https://tms.fih.ch/competiti Dec Kazakhstan, 3: Nepal, 4: Event page - Men ons/944 2018 Afghanistan * Following the withdrawal of Vanuatu, Belarus – who finished third in the Open Series event in Lousada, Portugal – were given a berth in the men’s FIH Series Finals. The nine highest placed nations in the FIH World Ranking (as of 9 June 2017) that were not playing in the FIH Pro League were exempt from the FIH Series Open and qualified directly for the FIH Series Finals. Men: India, Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, China, France, South Africa, Korea and Japan Women: Ireland, India, Korea, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Italy, Scotland and Poland 6 In 2019, six FIH Series Finals (3 for Men, 3 for Women) will take place, each with eight teams competing. Each FIH Series Finals event will include at least five qualifiers from the FIH Series Open but contain no more than three of the teams that qualified directly for the Finals based on World Ranking. The line-ups for these events can be found below. Date Location Gender Teams Website TMS Canada, Malaysia, 26 April – 4 Kuala Lumpur China, Austria, https://tms.fih.ch/co Men Event page May 2019 Malaysia Wales, Brazil, Italy, mpetitions/1049 Belarus* India, South Africa, 6 - 15 June Bhubaneswar Japan, Poland, https://tms.fih.ch/co Men Event page 2019 India Russia, USA, mpetitions/1050 Mexico, Uzbekistan Ireland, Korea, Scotland, Czech 8-16 June Banbridge https://tms.fih.ch/co Women Republic, Malaysia, Event page 2019 Ireland mpetitions/1052 Ukraine, France, Singapore Ireland, France, 15-23 June Le Touquet Korea, Egypt, https://tms.fih.ch/co Men Event page 2019 France Scotland, Ukraine, mpetitions/1051 Chile, Singapore India, Japan, Chile, 15-23 June Hiroshima https://tms.fih.ch/co Women Poland, Uruguay, Event page 2019 Japan mpetitions/1053 Russia, Mexico, Fiji Spain, Italy, Belarus, 19-27 June Valencia Canada, Russia, https://tms.fih.ch/co Women Event page 2019 Spain Wales, Thailand, mpetitions/1054 Namibia * Following the withdrawal of Vanuatu, Belarus – who finished third in the Open Series event in Lousada, Portugal – were given a birth in the Kuala Lumpur event.