Women's FIH Pro League
The Women's FIH Pro League is an international women's field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which replaces the Women's FIH Hockey World League. The competition, also serves as a qualifier for the Hockey World Cup and the Olympic Games.[1]
Current season, competition or edition: 2020–21 Women's FIH Pro League | |
Formerly | Hockey World League |
---|---|
Sport | Field hockey |
Founded | 2017 |
Inaugural season | 2019 |
No. of teams | 9 |
Continent | International (FIH) |
Most recent champion(s) | Netherlands (1st title) (2019) |
Most titles | Netherlands (1 title) |
Official website | fihproleague.com |
The first edition was started in 2019. Nine teams secured their places for four years.
Format
Nine teams will compete in a round-robin tournament with home and away matches, played from January to June, with the top four teams advancing to the grand final at a pre-determined location.[2] In July 2017, Hockey India decided to withdraw both the men's and women's national teams from the competition as they estimated the chances of qualifying for the Summer Olympics to be higher when participating in the Hockey Series. Hockey India also cited lack of clarity in the ranking system.[3][4] The International Hockey Federation subsequently invited Belgium instead.[5]
- Current teams
2020 format changes
For the 2020 edition, the home and away principle is kept but this principle will now be split over two consecutive seasons and work according to the following example:[6]
- in 2020, Team A will host Team B twice within a couple of days
- in 2021, Team B will host Team A twice within a couple of days
Also this new format removes the grand final event, held in the previous edition.
2022 format changes
From 2022 onwards the bottom team at the end of the season will be relegated and will be replaced by the winner of a new competition called the Women's FIH Nations Cup.[7]
Results
2019
Year | Final host | Final | Third place match | Teams PR / FR | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Champions | Score | Runners-up | Third place | Score | Fourth place | ||||||
2019 Details |
Amstelveen, Netherlands | Netherlands |
2–2 (4–3 p.s.o.) |
Australia |
Germany |
1–1 (3–1 p.s.o.) |
Argentina |
9 / 4 |
2020–present
Year | Final group rank | Teams | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Fourth place | ||||
2020–21 Details |
9 |
Team appearances
Team | 2019 | 2020–21 | Total |
---|---|---|---|
Australia | 2nd | Q | 2 |
Argentina | 4th | Q | 2 |
Belgium | 5th | Q | 2 |
China | 7th | Q | 2 |
Germany | 3rd | Q | 2 |
Great Britain | 8th | Q | 2 |
Netherlands | 1st | Q | 2 |
New Zealand | 6th | Q | 2 |
United States | 9th | Q | 2 |
Total | 9 | 9 | – |
References
- "Hockey Pro League Q&A". fih.ch. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
- "'Game-changing' Hockey Pro League teams announced for 2019". fih.ch. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
- "Hockey India justifies withdrawal from FIH Pro League". The Times of India. 9 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- "FIH statement on the withdrawal of Hockey India from the Hockey Pro League". fih.ch. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
- "FIH confirms Spain men and Belgium women join Hockey Pro League". fih.ch. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- "Executive Board approves 2020 and 2021 FIH Pro League match schedule principles". fih.ch. International Hockey Federation. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
- "FIH creates Hockey5s World Cup". fih.ch. International Hockey Federation. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.