The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has released the first ever Hockey5s world rankings following the first shortened format World Cup, with president Tayyab Ikram saying the “global hockey community has thoroughly embraced the Hockey5s format.”
In the men’s Hockey5s world rankings, Netherlands stand at the top, winning the inaugural World Cup following their victory at the European Championships, which have accrued 1750 points for them.
Powerhouse nations such as Germany, Belgium and England bypassed competitions.
In second place there’s a three-way tie between Malaysia (1400) who finished as silver medalists in the World Cup, improving since their fourth place at the Asian Championships, Oman (1400) who won bronze in front of their home crowd in their first ever hockey world cup appearance and India (1400) who finished in fifth place at the World Cup after having won the Asian Championship.
Poland (1350) and Egypt (1350) are tied for fifth place in the world rankings. Poland narrowly missed out on the bronze medal in the World Cup, while Egypt finished in sixth place. Following closely behind are Trinidad & Tobago (1200) and Kenya (1200) tied for seventh in the world rankings. Pakistan (1150) find themselves in ninth place, after winning the Challenger Trophy at the World Cup and Australia (1100) close out the top 10.
In the women’s Hockey5s world rankings, once again it’s Netherlands who occupy the first place, with a gold medal at the World Cup as well as the European Championships, giving them 1750 points. India (1550) who won the silver medal at the world cup after winning the Asian Championship, are ranked second in the world, with world cup bronze medalists Poland (1450) in third place.
Uruguay (1350) and South Africa (1350) are tied for fourth place in the world rankings after both teams showcased stunning attacking hockey at the World Cup. Malaysia (1250) are ranked sixth in the world, following a sixth place finish in the World Cup, followed closely behind by Ukraine (1200), New Zealand (1200) and United States (1200), who are all tied for seventh place! Namibia (1150) close out the top-10 in the women’s Hockey5s world rankings.
Ikram said: “The first ever FIH Hockey5s World Cup in Oman this year gave us clear evidence that the global hockey community has thoroughly embraced the Hockey5s format. With less infrastructure and financial resource requirements, Hockey5s is a format that is already making hockey popular in new regions all around the world.
As we launch the first ever Hockey5s World Rankings, the mixture of teams from the Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania among the top-10 of both men’s and women’s rankings is a welcome sight and paves the way for an extremely competitive future for the format and gives us a further opportunity to develop hockey in all regions.”
