Tuesday 26 / November / 2024
Muscat: Even as the Oman Hockey Association (OHA) is gearing up to conduct elections, the Sultanate’s hockey chief Sheikh Mahfoodh bin Ali Juma Al Juma, who is seeking another term as the association chairman, and his fellow board members received a shot in the arm with the news of Oman national team qualifying for the FIH World League Round 2 competition.
The Sultanate squad’s qualification for the Hockey World League (HWL) Round 2, coupled with the national team’s direct entry into the prestigious Asia Cup, has come as a double boost for Sheikh Mahfoodh who will be in a three-way contest for the OHA’s top post in November 2 elections.
When contacted by Times Sport, just hours after the FIH confirmed Oman’s qualification for the HWL Round 2, OHA chief Sheikh Mahfoodh Al Juma said: “Yes FIH has confirmed now. Our team has qualified for the World League Round 2 competition.”
“The national team’s qualification for the next round of World League is great news. This great news comes close on the heels Oman team gaining direct entry into the Asia Cup. It will be for the first time Oman will be playing in the Asia Cup without going through the qualifying competitions,” a delighted Sheikh Mahfoodh said.
“It’s a great achievement as far as Oman hockey is concerned. We are all proud of this achievement,” he said while adding that Oman team managed to stay in the top six or seventh place in Asia since 2012.
Doubts cleared
Some confusion prevailed over Oman’s qualification for the HWL Round 2 following the team’s second place finish in a Round 1 competition organised in Antalya, Turkey back in September.
“Initially there was some confusion, leading to some people rising doubts over our qualification for Round 2,” said Oman goalkeeping coach Shakir Munir.
“Everybody was thinking only one team will qualify for the Antalya competition. But we never had any such doubts. Thankfully the FIH statement has cleared all confusion, proving all the doubters wrong,” Shakir, who also assists the association in technical aspects and with video analysis, added.
In Antalya, Oman finished second behind Austria after richly-deserved victories over Qatar (3-0) and hosts Turkey (3-2). Their only loss, a 9-4 defeat, came against eventual competition winners Austria.
The HWL Round 2 competitions will take place in different venues between January and April next year with Oman taking part in the first event of the Round 2 in Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka from March 4 to 12.
In Dhaka, Oman will be hoping to gain world ranking points even as they vie for top honours with Canada, Egypt, hosts Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Fiji.
The top two teams from each of the three Round 2 competitions as well as two highest ranked teams that finish third will qualify for the HWL semifinals, which will take place in three venues in June and July next year. The Finals, which serve as the qualifying event for the FIH World Cup, are scheduled to be held at the end of the year.
Speaking about Oman’s direct entry into the 2017 Asia Cup, Shakir Munir said: “In the last few years, Oman have been consistent as far as their rankings in Asia are concerned. They managed to keep themselves in the top seven in the continent and that really helped in them gaining direct entry into the next year’s Asia Cup.”
Improved ranking
Interestingly, Oman’s world ranking too improved considerably over the years. The team, who were as low as 60 in FIH rankings list in 2004, moved to 36 in December 2012 before gradually rising to 23 in 2013 and then to their highest ranking of 21 in March 2015. A slip in performance in the following years saw Oman drop to 31st spot.
However, according to Shakir Munir, Oman can now hope to gain some ranking points with good performances in the HWL Round 2 and Asia Cup.
“The HWL Round 2 competition as well as the Asia Cup are a great opportunity for Oman team. With some good performances, they can gain considerable the ranking points,” Shakir Munir said.
Oman had participated in the ninth Asia Cup in Malaysia in 2013 after qualifying as the second best team from the 2012 AHF Cup organised in Thailand. In the 2013 Asia Cup, the Sultanate squad settled for the sixth place in the eight-team tournament, with their best performance coming in a 4-2 victory over Bangladesh.
