Day 1 of the Hockey World League Round 1 at Glasgow National Hockey Centre. A round-robin international men’s tournament, Scotland, Wales, Switzerland, Portugal and Slovakia are set to battle it out over the next six days.
There’s all to play for this week in a tournament where rankings will determine which teams qualify for the Round 2 events taking place in early 2017. Composed of 4 rounds in total and played over two years, the Hockey World League takes place in venues around the world. The 2016/17 HWL will decide which teams will qualify, alongside the Continental Champions and hosts, for the FIH World Cups in 2018 in England (women) and India (men).
Qualification from Round 1: Each team will play each once during this week’s tournament. Once all matches have been completed by Sunday 11th September the teams finishing in the top two will qualify for Round 2 in 2017.
All teams participating in the Hockey World League will also receive FIH World Ranking points which could prove crucial when it comes to qualification for other hockey events, while the winners will qualify for the 2018 Champions Trophies in Argentina (women) and the Netherlands (men).
It is an exciting time for the Scotland men’s team as they kick-off their qualifying campaign for the World Cup in 2018. The team made a great start to the summer by winning a 4-Nations tournament in Poland, and then scoring 17 goals over three games against Czech Republic in Prague recently. The men’s final preparations for World League 1 saw the team score 16 over three games against Italy in Glasgow.
Today’s event schedule features Scotland’s opening match versus Switzerland at 7.15pm, which is preceded by Wales taking on Portugal at 5pm.
Matches start at 5pm.
Season tickets in advance (including a free programme) are available from Scottish Hockey on 041 550 5999 up until Friday 2nd September, tickets can also be purchased on the gate.
Tickets on the day are available at the gate: Adult day ticket £7/Concession day ticket £3/Season ticket £20.
The Hockey World League action continues tomorrow with two matches starting from 5pm.