Hockey World League semi-finals: And so begins the road to Rio

Pakistan face Poland on June 20, must finish in the top three to qualify for the Olympics

KARACHI: The battle for the three Rio Summer Olympic berths up for grabs begins on June 20 as 10 teams in two pools take to the at the FIH Hockey World League (HWL) semi-finals round two at Antwerp, Belgium.

The top three teams from both semi-finals rounds will qualify for the Rio Summer Olympics and the FIH HWL Finals to be held in India in December.

The three teams to qualify from round two will take their place alongside the three teams that have already qualified for the Olympics as well for the FIH HWL Finals after finishing in the top three of the first HWL semi-finals played from June 3 to June 14 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The winner of the first edition, world number three Germany, and runners-up world number six Argentina — who played out a 4-1 final in favour of the Europeans — will take their place alongside second-ranked Netherlands, who defeated Canada 6-0 in the third-place play-off.

The second round of the HWL semi-finals has world number one Australia, number nine India, number 10 Pakistan, number 17 Poland and number 18 France in Pool A. Pool B is a relatively easier proposition and comprises of world number four Great Britain, number five Belgium, number 12 Malaysia, number 15 Ireland and number 28 China.

Confident of qualification

India and France will clash in the first tie on June 20, while Pakistan and Poland play later on in the day.

It is a clash that the Greenshirts can ill-afford to come out of with anything but a win over their relatively easier opponents, especially with matches against Australia and India to follow on June 24 and 26. “Poland are ranked 17 but have done well to reach the semi-finals,” said skipper Muhammad Imran, while talking to The Express Tribune. “We are better than them but on the day it is all about taking the chances and we have to play with perfect field coordination to win.”

While the side may need to win against either India or Australia, Imran is confident of his team’s chances of progressing into the quarter-finals. “We are confident of repeating our Champions Trophy win over India, which is the most awaited match all around the world,” added Imran.

That match is much anticipated indeed, especially considering the bad blood between the two sides after Pakistan’s win in the Champions Trophy semi-final. But first, Poland must be dealt with.