Indian women's team in Pool B for FIH Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi

Mumbai : Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games semifinalists India have been grouped in Pool B along with New Zealand, the United States and Italy in the eight-team FIH Women's Olympic Qualifier Tournament to be played in Ranchi from January 13-19, 2024.

World No.6 India made the grade for the Olympic qualifiers by winning a bronze medal in the Asian Games held in Hangzhou in September-October. Pool A comprises World No. 5 Germany, 2018 Asian Games gold medallist Japan, Chile and the Czech Republic, the FIH revealed on Tuesday.

The event at Ranchi will be the second of the women's qualifiers with the first one being held at Valencia, Spain around the same dates. Pool A for the event in Valencia will include World No.4 Belgium, South Korea, Ireland and Ukraine while Pool B will have Great Britain, Spain, Canada and Malaysia.

The top three teams from each tournament will qualify for the Paris Olympics, joining the five direct qualifiers from Continental events and host France to make the 12-team field for the Olympic Games.

After the round-robin matches in the pool stage, the top two teams in each pool will qualify for the semifinals. The winning semifinalists will be assured of a top-2 finish and qualify for the Olympic Games, while the losing semi-finalists will play the bronze medal match with the winner of that match also securing their ticket to Paris 2024.

The two men's qualifiers will be played at Valencia and Oman between January 13-21, 2024. The teams for the event at Valencia are Pool A: Belgium, Ireland, Japan and Ukraine while Pool B comprises Spain, South Korea, Egypt and Austria. For the event in Oman, Pool will have Great Britain, Malaysia, Pakistan and China while Pool B includes Germany, New Zealand, Canada and Chile.

Just like the women's competition, the top three in each of the two qualifying events in the men's section will make it to the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.