Fiji hockey teams improve world ranking

Suva – Fiji.
Fiji Hockey president Dr Robin Mitchell is delighted with the latest world hockey rankings released by International Hockey Federation.

The Fiji Women have climbed eight places and Fiji Men’s Hockey team rose from 71 to 55th in the world.. The updated rankings were released following Round 3 of the FIH Hockey World League matches which were played last month (June).

“Fiji Hockey was surprised at the big jump in our international ranking but very proud of this achievement which was the result of the hard work put in over the past years by our High Performance Unit, our National teams and their coaching and management support staff.

“We were very supportive of the introduction of the new FIH World Hockey League which was launched in 2012 as it gave teams ranked above the top 20 in the world, a better competitive pathway to improve our international ranking in the world playing against teams of standard that were not too far beyond where we thought we should be ranked.

In Oceania, Australia and New Zealand are consistently ranked in the top 6 countries in the world which makes it difficult for smaller countries like Fiji to progress in international competition.

“As a result of our experience in hosting World Series round 1 in December 2012 and participating in Round 2 in New Delhi in February 2013, Fiji has applied for and has been confirmed as a host for the 2014 FIH World League round 1 tentatively scheduled for July 2014.

“This is the first stage of the qualifying competition for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.”
The Fiji Women’s team are ranked equal 51 with Nigeria, and have moved above Hong Kong, Bermuda, Venezuela, Guyana, Dominican Republic, Egypt and Paraguay.

Other Oceania countries ranking sees New Zealand women at 3, Australia 6, Samoa 60, Papua New Guinea 61 and Vanuatu 63.

In the Men’s rankings, Fiji has moved above Greece to 56, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Morocco, Georgia, Cyprus, Paraguay, Puerto Rico, Slovenia, Nigeria, Brunei, Jamaica, Denmark, Panama and Guatemala.

Australia is the top Oceania country and is ranked 2 in the World, New Zealand at 5, Papua New Guinea 69, Samoa 72 and Vanuatu 74.

Both Australia and New Zealand have qualified for the finals of the 2014 World Cup which will be held in the Netherland in 2014 following their recent participation in the FIH Hockey World Series Round 3”

By Island business

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