Hockey World League: How the Competition Works

The FIH Hockey World League (HWL) is upon us and the teams are gearing up at Antwerp to secure their berths for the 2016 Rio Olympics. The first edition of the Hockey World League was played in 2012/2013 and since then it is played every two years. (India Begin Semi-Final Campaign Against France)

The Hockey World League is designed in such a way that over a two-year cycle, the competition serves as a qualifying tournament for both the Olympic Games and the FIH World Cup alongside the continental champions and hosts. The teams that fail to get a direct qualification into the Olympics by way of being continental champions thus, get a second bite at the cherry. (HWL Semifinal: 'Relaxed' India to Try Out New Things)

This year, Germany, Argentina and the Netherlands have already booked their berths for Rio Olympics from the first semi-final held in Buenos Aires. In Antwerp, 10 other teams will fight for Olympic berths in the second semi-final with three places up for grabs. In all, 12 teams will qualify for the Rio Games.

The Indian team, though has already qualified for 2016 Rio Olympics by winning the gold in the Incheon Asian Games last year. As hosts for the HWL Finals in December this year, India have no pressure of reaching the finals. Incidentally, in the last edition, India finished sixth in the semi-finals thus failing to reach the final.

India are in Pool A with Australia, France, Pakistan and Poland. The other group -- Pool B -- consists of Belgium, China, Great Britain, Ireland and Malaysia.

However, here's a quick look at what the HWL is aimed at:

Objective

Apart from being a qualifying tournament for the Olympics and World Cup, the HWL also provides an opportunity to smaller hockey nations  to display their prowess at a big stage.

Format

The competition is played over a two-year period with four rounds.

Round 1 - Local

Teams ranked from No. 1 to 11 don't compete in this round, they get a bye to Round 3, i.e. the semi-finals. Teams from rank 12 and below go to Round 2 with a bye. The FIH invites entries for Round 1 and the number of Round 1 tournaments depends on the number and location of entries.

Round 2 - Regional

Round 2 is regional and is generally features teams from more than one continent. There are three Round-2 tournaments that comprised of eight teams divided into two pools of four, followed by classification matches.

Round 3 - Semi-finals

Here's the big draw. There are two Round-3 tournaments where 10 teams are divided into two pools of five in each of those tournaments, followed by the classification games. The first semi-finals were played in Buenos Aires and now the second semi-finals start in Antwerp.

Round 4 - Finals

The finals are a straight draw - one tournament with eight teams. The teams are split into two pools of four with classification matches.

Qualification

Here's how the teams qualify for the Hockey World Cup and the Olympic Games:

- The Host (subject to IOC agreement for Olympic Games)

- The five Continental Champions

- 6/7 highest placed teams from the Hockey World League(depending on Host also being Continental Champion).

Not only qualification for the two biggest hockey events, the HWL also has world ranking Points up for grabs at the tournament.