Draw ceremony for Hockey World Cup 2023 held in Bhubaneswar; India in Pool D

Bhubaneswar: International Hockey Federation on Thursday revealed the list slotting qualified teams into four pools for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023 during the Draw Ceremony at the Convention Centre, Lok Seva Bhawan, here.

The Draw ceremony was conducted in presence of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, acting president of FIH Seif Ahmed and officials from Hockey India. The draw proceedings were conducted by FIH CEO Thierry Weil.

As per the release, FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023 will begin on January 13, 2023 and continue till January 29. As many as 16 teams will be playing under four pools in the tournament.

Here are details:

Pool A: Australia, Argentina, France, South Africa.

Pool B: Belgium, Germany, Korea, Japan.

Pool C: Netherlands, New Zealand, Malaysia, Chile.

Pool D: India, England, Spain, Wales.

As announced earlier, India, Australia, Belgium and Netherlands were placed on the first row of their corresponding pools based on the FIH World Rankings as per June 1 2022. 

“We are always proud to welcome the best hockey teams and players of the world for such an outstanding event. This time we are inviting the world to a brand new arena – The Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. This is testimony to our strong commitment towards hockey. Congratulations and best wishes to all teams,” said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the occasion. 

Worth mentioning here, Odisha is the first state to be hosting Hockey World Cup for second time in the row, after successfully hosting it in 2018.