KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — The national men’s hockey squad can anticipate an easy path towards the final round of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Qualifications after the International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed the composition of the pools for the FIH Series Finals in 2019.

On paper, world number 11 Canada are the only threat for hosts Malaysia, ranked 12th in the world. The pool also consists of China (17), Austria (18), Wales (24), Brazil (26), Italy (37) and Vanuatu (64).

The Malaysian Tigers squad need to secure a top two finish in the tournament scheduled from April 26 to May 4 next year at the National Hockey Stadium here, in order to confirm their berth for the final round of Olympic Qualification matches.

FIH through its official website, www.fih.ch, also announced that India will host another Series Finals from June 6-16, while France’s edition is scheduled from June 15-23.

Meanwhile, the women’s squad ranked 22 in the world, are set to face stiff challenge after being put in the same pool as hosts Ireland (8), South Korea (10), Scotland (18), Czech Republic (19), Ukraine (27), France and another one team qualifying from the Hockey Series Open.

FIH have yet to confirm the venue for the tournament which is scheduled from June 8-16, while Japan and Spain will host the other two editions from June 15-23 June and 19-27 respectively.

A total of 24 women and 24 men’s teams, with three pools of eight teams will do battle, where only the top two finishers will advance to the Olympic Qualification matches to be held in November 2019.

The final round of Olympic Qualification will feature 12 teams, six from the Hockey Series Finals, four Pro-League teams and two teams based on world rankings, where only seven teams will qualify to Tokyo 2020.

Initially only six places were allocated through the qualifying round, where another six places are allocated for five continental champions and a place for the hosts, before Japan, who have automatically qualified as the host, had also taken the continental champion spot after bagging the Asian Games gold medal in both men’s and women’s events.

"After the success of the Hockey Series Open, the FIH Series Finals will provide an even bigger stage for top and highly contested games. We are convinced that this new competition, part of our new Event Portfolio, will generate a lot of excitement among fans all over the world”, FIH CEO Thierry Weil said.

Men’s Pools:

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Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) 26 April – 4 May 2019

Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Italy, MALAYSIA, Vanuatu and Wales.

India (venue to be confirmed) 6 – 16 June 2019

India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, USA and another one team to be confirmed.

Le Touquet (France) 15-23 June 2019

Chile, France, Ireland, South Korea, Scotland, Singapore and two teams to be confirmed.

Women’s Pools:

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Ireland (venue to be confirmed) 8-16 June 2019

Czech Republic, France, Ireland, South Korea, MALAYSIA, Scotland, Ukraine and another team to be confirmed.

Japan (venue to be confirmed) 15-23 June 2019

Chile, Fiji, India, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia and Uruguay.

Valencia (Spain) 19-27 June 2019

Belarus, Canada, Italy, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Wales and another team to be confirmed.

— Bernama