No Paris Coverage?

During the past Summer Olympiads, HBIC has done full coverage of the field hockey events. I have to admit that I am a fan of the game despite my limited playing experience of two physical education classes in high school, but I won't lie in saying that watching the teams in Paris is always a treat as these are the best teams on the planet competing for the sport's highest honour. It's a game built on speed, skill, accurate passing and shooting, and toughness, but it's poetry in motion when teams execute well. I won't do a full primer here today, but HBIC has been and will be watching this event through to the gold-medal games on August 8 and 9! Who will stand atop the podiums?

We'll start with the obvious in that if you're from the North American continent, there's just one team represented at the Paris Olympic Games with the American women qualifying in January for one of the final berths. They're ranked 13th-overall in the world, so they should be pretty competitive in Paris with countries like India (9th) and New Zealand (11th) missing out on spots in Paris while England (7th) and Ireland (12th) compete as Great Britain. There are still some powerhouses at the top of the FIH rankings that the US will need to defeat if they hope to medal, but that's why they play the games.

Netherlands enters both the men's and women's events as the top-ranked teams in the world, and there's no reason to believe they won't continue playing at that level. The men are looking to bounce back after being bounced by Australia in the quarterfinals, but they'll be in tough with Great Britain, 2020 fourth-place finisher Germany (6th), and 8th-ranked Spain in their pool. They avoid the "Group of Death" on the other side of the tournament, but the Dutch men will have to beat at least one of those teams if they hope to medal.

The Dutch women are the defending gold medalists from 2020, and they've won medals in seven-straight Olympic Games. They've won three gold medals in the last four Olympiads, and they are seen as the favorites coming into Paris. Despite all that hype, there will be strong challengers in the groups stage as Germany (3rd), Belgium (4th), and China (8th) could all make noise. Perhaps most shocking is that none of those teams medalled in 2020, but there's no doubt that Netherlands will need to be at the top of their game if they hope to earn the group's top seeding and repeat as Olympic champions.

Their path will likely lead through one of 2020 silver medallist Argentina (2nd), Australia (5th), or Spain (6th), and one shouldn't count out 2020 bronze medallist Great Britain despite the British attack being seen as one of the weaker attacks in the competition. In any case, the path for the Dutch women will see them crossover to play at least one of the Group-B teams, so they need to be ready for that battle. If they don't finish atop their group, things get considerably tougher for the Netherlands in their title defence.

In terms of coverage, I will recap the group stage at the end of that portion of both events as the quarterfinals begin on August 5. For once, I'm going to take some time and watch an event without thinking about this blog. If you haven't watched the sport, I highly recommend you tune in for a game or two as you'll likely be mesmerised by how well these teams move a ball using only one side of the stick. There are articles sprinkled through HBIC where you can find information on the game, so feel free to use the search bar at the top of the blog to find more information.

Just as a note, the Dutch women beat France by a 6-2 score to open the tournament with a win while the Dutch men downed South Africa by a 5-3 score to get their tournament started on the right foot. The competition gets a little more difficult for the women as Germany are the Netherlands' opponents today while the men will take on the host nation as France welcomes them to the pitch.

Check your local listings for the field hockey competition, and enjoy the action on the pitch as we near the medal rounds!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!