International Press Release Submissions

Netherlands and Australia top Pools A and D; Chile’s adventures continue; Ireland and Japan suffer bitter disappointment

Lausanne, Switzerland: Another action packed day has revealed the first two teams to qualify straight through to the quarter-finals. As winners of Pool A and D respectively, Netherlands and Australia will now have a break while the knockout round is contested.   As second in Pool A, Germany will face South Africa, who finished in third position in Pool D. The lowest ranked team in the tournament, Chile, will take on Belgium, who finished in second place in Pool D.   Ireland's dreams of repeating their 2018 exploits was dashed by a businesslike performance by Germany. Netherlands won their third game to top Pool A but Chile won the hearts of the spectators – and in the case of Francisca Tala, a marriage proposal from her boyfriend –  with their defiant performance against the reigning champions.   South Africa kept Australia to a 2-1 scoreline, thus consigning Japan to join Ireland in the 13-16th place play-offs. The Cherry Blossoms had fallen victim to a revitalised Belgium earlier in the day. Ireland v Germany (Pool A) Ireland went into their must-win match against Germany full of energy, high spirits and an indomitable will to keep their World Cup dreams on track. For their part, Germany's main concern was to ensure at least a second place finish in the pool and to put their earlier defeat at the hands of the Netherlands behind them. From the start, Ireland's captain Katy Mullan was leading by example, hassling and harrying the German defence, but Germany started with composure, both in attack and defence. Neither side managed to get a breakthrough in the first quarter and, in fact, there were only three attempts at goal in the first 15 minutes – one for Ireland and two for Germany. The breakthrough came for Germany in the 24th minute. Nike Lorenz showed her accuracy and power from the top of the circle as she sent a penalty corner drag flick flying into the net, helped on its way by the tip of Ayeisha McFerran's boot. Ireland began the second half …


Source: MyPR International

Chasing honours at the EuroHockey5s

Lausanne, Switzerland: The men’s EuroHockey5s Championships 2022 will be taking place on 6-9 July in Walcz, Poland, with 13 teams lining up to contest the inaugural event. The pool matches take place over the 6-8 July, with the matches to decide the final placements all taking place on an exciting final day of action on 9 July. Not only will the winning team make history as first ever EuroHockey5s champions but the competition will also see the top three teams qualify for the Hockey5s World Cup which takes place in Oman in 2024. Pool A comprises Armenia, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Poland and Ukraine, while Pool B sees Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey taking to the field. While there will be a host of players who are experiencing senior international hockey competition for the first time, there will also be some athletes bringing a wealth of knowledge to the event in Poland. Sander de Wijn is one such player. A silver medallist from the London Olympic Games 2012, de Wijn has more than 150 senior 11-a-side caps to his name. Also bringing his considerable hockey CV to the event will be Belgium coach Xavier Reckinger. The former Belgium international was most recently Head Coach to the German women’s team but returned to the Belgium Hockey Federation’s impressive coaching set-up last year. He will be pushing his Red Lions to achieve as highly as their 11-a-side compatriots. Another coach who is well known across the international circuit is Austria Head Coach Cedric D’Souza. The former India national goalkeeper has been coach to the India hockey team, the national men’s team of Greece and the Austria U18 team. His knowledge and experience of getting the best from his players will leave Austria well-placed at this event. While the Netherlands and Belgium would be expected to be among the medal hopefuls, there are other nations with strong credentials. Poland were recent silver medallists at the inaugural FIH Hockey5s event in …


Source: MyPR International

Pool play takes shape as Netherlands, Argentina and Belgium have big wins, while India, England draw and Korea find late goal to edge Canada

Lausanne, Switzerland:Netherlands stormed their way to the top of Pool A after a 3-1 win over Germany, while India and England had an exciting 1-1 draw in Pool B play. Belgium took down South Africa 4-1 with double goals from each of Stephanie vanden Borre and Charlotte Englebert. Pool C saw an impressive performance from Canada but Korea found responses to come back and take the game 3-2, while Argentina blasted Spain 4-1. Favourites Netherlands and Argentina sit atop their respective pools with two wins, while with only one game played each in Pool B and Pool D it’s still anyone’s game. Belgium v South Africa (Pool D) It was a game of penalty corners as four of five goals in the game came off set pieces as Belgium took their opening game in pool D play 4-1 over South Africa. Despite the score margin the Red Panthers had 15 penalty corners in the game to South Africa’s three. Stephanie vanden Borre put in two penalty corner goals in the second quarter to give Belgium a cushion. Belgium retained most of the possession but couldn’t find a way in free play past South African keeper Phumelela Mbande. South Africa had few attacks but were able to garner a penalty corner in the 24th minute after a fast break. Almost catching Belgium by surprise, the ball was very quickly slapped down the pipe and Jean-Leigh du Toit’s shot beat Aisling D’hooghe between the pads to cut Belgium’s lead in half. It was a small resolve though as Belgium still dominated the second half. Credit to Mbande who continued to stymie waves of attack including several penalty corners and a stunner of a back-hand from Charlotte Englebert. Englebert was on fire in the fourth quarter and she buried a penalty corner variation after injecting the ball to make it 3-1 in the 53rd minute. More penalty corners rained on South Africa including a rebound attempt from vanden Borre that rang the left-hand post. Late in the game a bit of pressure on Lisa-Marie Deetlefs forced a turnover at the stroke mark right to …


Source: MyPR International

Women’s World Cup

Germany, Argentina and Netherlands clock up convincing wins; Australia dig deep to beat Japan; Blacksticks draw with China on return to world stage Lausanne, Switzerland: Emotions ran high on the second day of action at the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup. Head Coach to Chile, Sergio Vigil fought back tears as his team lined up for their first ever World Cup appearance; Eva de Goede was visibly moved as her dream of a fourth World Cup came true, despite months away from the game through injury. On the pitch there was also no lack of drama and emotion. New Zealand returned to international action with a solid draw against China. Olivia Merry was on the scoresheet, demonstrating that she has lost none of her fire power that we saw in previous pre-Covid years. The second match saw Chile make their debut on the World Cup stage. Although the Diablas lost to Die Danas, they won a lot of fans – both for their pacy play and for the passion shown by the team and their animated Head Coach. The next match saw a masterclass in penalty corner striking from Agustina Gorzelany as Argentina broke down a resilient Korea defence to start their campaign in some style. Reigning champions Netherlands got off to a cracking start as they put paid to gallant Ireland, two of the goals scored by Frederique Matla from penalty strokes. The final match of the day saw the re-emergence of Australia and Japan, both of whom have not figured much on the international stage in recent months. It took until the 56th minute for a breakthrough to come as Australia finally made goalmouth pressure count. New Zealand vs China The first quarter saw these two teams testing each other out but with no goal scored in that period of play. China came the closest when Zheng Jiali was in a perfect position to shoot after a good piece of swift passing had created space. She hit the ball as she was falling off balance and the shot flew harmlessly high. For New Zealand, this was the first taste of international action – …


Source: MyPR International

FIH and Simba launch first hockey digital collectibles on NFTclub.hockey

Lausanne, Switzerland: www.NFTclub.hockey, the NFT marketplace which came to birth thanks to the recent partnership between the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and SIMBA Chain, Inc., a blockchain company delivering real-world Web3 solutions, has delivered its very first offer of hockey digital collectibles today! Taking advantage of the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022, which is starting today, July 1, this first-ever series of FIH NFTs gets inspiration from the “collectible cards” concept that are traditionally associated with sports. 16 NTFs, one per participating team, will give the opportunity for fans all around the world to build their own collection from an event that is unique and highly-prestigious. In particular, those NFTs display “must have” FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup all-time statistics for every participating team! And even more: some of the fans collecting each of the 16 NFTs - one from each country’s collection - will have the chance to receive exciting rewards like signed memorabilia from the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022, VIP hospitality tickets for upcoming FIH events and access to exclusive discounts! Therefore, don’t wait any longer and acquire your first FIH NFTs! The FIH NFTs are accessible to everybody, without needing any crypto understanding or experience. Fans can access the collectibles on NFTclub.hockey, purchase their favourites by creating a user account and access them once logged in. FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “Today’s launch of our very first NFTs marks yet another step in our ever increasing digital engagement with fans. Collectibles have always been very popular amongst sports fans and we’re hopeful that those digital ones, developed thanks to the expertise of our new partner SIMBA Market, will offer a new way for fans to enjoy and remember their best hockey memories.” "We built SIMBA Market to enable brands like FIH to introduce their communities to NFTs without the need …


Source: MyPR International

Women’s World Cup: Passion and pragmatism clash in Pool C

Lausanne, Switzerland: Pool C is likely to provide an intriguing mixture of teams that play with passion and flair pitted against teams where pragmatism is the watchword. Argentina and Spain are capable of fiery moments of brilliance, Korea and Canada will counter with structure and discipline. Argentina arrive in Terrassa on the back of a rich vein of form after winning the FIH Hockey Pro League in some style. Where other teams have been tinkering with their line-ups and trying a range of squad members, Fernando Ferrara, the Head Coach, has been playing much the same squad for the past three months. Las Leonas has an embarrassment of riches within its ranks. Agustina Gorzelany is brilliant at drag flicks but equally classy in a defender’s role. Maria and Victoria Granatto are pure brilliance as they create scoring opportunities with skill and clever movement. Agustina Albertarrio is imperious as she goes on the attack. The less flamboyant but equally effective athletes such as Eugenia Trinchinetti, Jimena Cedres and Rocio Sanchez are crucial to the team’s success. But make no mistake, this is a team that has golden ambitions. Listen here to the thoughts of Rocio Sanchez ahead of the FIH Women’s World Cup Canada’s best moments in FIH Women’s World Cup history came back in the 1980s when they finished second in 1983 and third in 1986. Since 1994 they haven’t been seen at a World Cup and so will be hoping to make a renewed impact. The team has made a lot of friends in recent seasons with its hard-working ethos and talented squad. Brienne Stairs is a top class striker and, along with Karli Johansen, Hannah Haughn and Amanda Woodcroft can cause any team problems on their day. Captain Natalie Sourisseau and Sara McManus are two more highly experienced players who will add stability to the squad. Rob Short has recently taken over as Head Coach and will bring his own vast international experience to bear with the squad. Korea qualified by virtue of a second place finish in …


Source: MyPR International

Women’s World Cup: The pool where anything could happen

Lausanne, Switzerland: Pool B has all the makings of a highly competitive set of matches. All four teams – China, England, India and New Zealand – have undergone major rebuilding in the past few months and all four are teams that will have serious podium aspirations. Under the coaching team led by two-time FIH Coach of the Year Alyson Annan, China has shown in recent FIH Hockey Pro League matches that the team is making giant steps forward in combining Asian structure and high technical ability with the creativity and hard work ethic espoused by their coach. China qualified with a fourth place finish at the Women’s Hockey Asia Cup 2022. The China team’s appearances at previous Women’s World Cups has not been auspicious. The best finish was third in 2002 and in 2018 they finished in 16th place. However, this team has some serious talent within its ranks and will be hoping to enjoy a far greater performance than four years ago. Drag flick specialist Gu Bingfeng presents danger at every penalty corner; the speedy and skilful Zheng Jiali can twist and turn through any defence; Li Hong is tall, quick and a fantastically brave first runner at penalty corners and goalkeeper Liu Ping has astonished spectators with her shot-stopping ability. England is also a team that has not achieved the heights at previous World Cups it would have hoped for. A third place finish in 2010 is the best result for David Ralph’s team and he will be hoping the team, led by stalwart Hollie Pearne-Webb, will be peaking at just the right time. Pearne-Webb has some worthy lieutenants within the squad. Maddie Hinch is still one of the best goalkeepers in the world; barring injury Laura Unsworth will reach 300 caps at this event; Giselle Ansley, Lily Owsley and Shona McAllin all bring huge experience. Newer members of the squad include the attack-minded Tessa Howard, the super-skilful Hannah Martin and speedy Elena Rayer. The question is whether the team is still too immersed in its development …


Source: MyPR International

Women’s World Cup: Pool A provides some fascinating match-ups

Lausanne, Switzerland: The four teams competing in Pool A at the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain & Netherlands 2022 bring with them a range of styles and experiences that will provide some fascinating match-ups. Chile (World Ranking 17), Germany (WR:6), Ireland (WR: 12) and Netherlands (WR:1) will be getting their World Cup campaigns underway on 2 July in the Wagener Hockey Stadium in Amstelveen. Germany will face Chile at 16:30 (local time), while Netherlands and Ireland will have a re-match of the 2018 World Cup final when they meet at 19:30 (local time). Chile’s first ever appearance at the World Cup comes courtesy of a second place finish at the Pan American Cup. The team, known as Las Diablas, beat USA in the semi-final of the Pan American Cup in Santiago on shoot-out and the celebrations of the home crowd and the delight of the players demonstrated just what this achievement means. For players such as Claudia Schuler, the goalkeeper who starred in that shoot-out, Camila Caram and Manuela Urroz, this has been a long time coming. All three have more than 200 caps apiece and bring a wealth of experience with them. Add into the mix the fire-power of Denise Losada-Krimerman and the energy of newer squad members such as Francisca Parra and Fernanda Arrieta and you know that the South American side could be a disruptive force at this event. Coach Sergio Vigil has a great coaching pedigree as he steered Argentina to gold in the 2002 Women’s World Cup in Perth, Australia. The final FIH Hockey Pro League match between Germany and China showed just how much style, class and ability the German team has as they finished the season with an impressive 4-0 victory. The team sealed their place at this year’s World Cup with a silver medal at the EuroHockey Championships 2021 and they have been growing in stature ever since. Germany has been crowed World Cup winners twice, in 1976 and 1981, and many observers consider a third title is long overdue for the European …


Source: MyPR International

Netherlands men sign off great season with win; Pia Maertens leads Germany to victory over China; Belgium women finish fourth in league after second win over USA

Lausanne, Switzerland: And so we come to the end of the third season of FIH Hockey Pro League action. The two leagues – men's and women's – began back in October in Belgium and ended eight months later with Argentina women and Netherlands men being crowned champions. Harmanpreet Singh of India and Agustina Gorzelany of Argentina topped the goal scoring table and a worldwide audience was able to indulge in some simply sublime hockey that had the luxury of unfolding as a narrative over the course of the season. Newcomers to the leagues were able to shine on the big stage; an opportunity grasped eagerly by France and South Africa men and India and Spain women. Just a glance at the tables will demonstrate how well those teams competed in their respective men's and women's leagues. On the final day of action, eyes were on HC Den Bosch where the women's teams of China, USA, Belgium and Germany and the men's teams of Netherlands and Spain completed their campaigns It was the Pia Maertens show in the final women's match of the FIH Pro league. The athlete was everywhere for Germany as she scored a first half hat trick, was involved in a fabulous fourth goal and saved a shot off the line. Earlier in the day Ambre Ballenghien and her Belgium team mates had once more put USA to the sword as they won for the second consecutive day. In the final men's game, Netherlands put four goals past Spain to emphasise their championship status. Pirmin Blaak in the Dutch goal can take much of the credit for the victory as he was a virtual human wall between the Spanish attack force and the back of the goal. United States v Belgium (women) – HC Den Bosch (NED) Belgium started the match with energy but found Kelsey Bing in the USA goal in tremendous form. When she was beaten her defenders were also showing the levels of resileince that the USA have become known for. Ashley Hoffman put in one particularly good save when she pulled the ball from over head height as it was on route to …


Source: MyPR International

Launch of first ever FIH Official Fan Store!

Lausanne, Switzerland: Dreaming of offering the FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup mascot – Lyla – to your children? Looking for an event T-shirt to watch the matches? Finding your outfit to follow the next FIH Hockey Pro League season? The International Hockey Federation (FIH) brings you the solution: the FIH Official Fan Store! Indeed, as part of its continued journey to connect and engage with hockey players and fans and also enrich its digital offer for them, FIH, together with its partner Kayford, has officially launched today its first ever Online Fan Store, available on the platform www.store.hockey. Thanks to this new platform, hockey players and fans around the world are now able to order official branded FIH, FIH Hockey Pro League and FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022 merchandising items, in a very easy and user-friendly way. Items on offer include polos, T-shirts, jackets, caps, scarves, mugs, bottles, keychains, umbrellas and much more! The initial product range will be expanded within the coming months. (note: see athletes competing at the FIH Hockey Women's World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022 wearing some of the items on offer: https://www.instagram.com/p/CfLis8QqzEP/) Kayford Holdings Ltd. CEO Markus Kerschensteiner said: “We are very happy to be an integral part of launching FIH’s first ever online store. This would be a much-awaited launch for the hockey fans to be able to buy their favourite merchandise from all over the world. We look forward to welcoming and engaging with the hockey fans through the online store.” FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “The launch of the FIH Official Store is another important milestone for the continued enhancement of the fan experience. We invite the global hockey community, including fans and players, to get hold of their favourite items from the store. On behalf of FIH, I’d like to extend our sincerest thanks to Kayford for their invaluable expertise and guidance in this achievement.” CLICK …


Source: MyPR International