New Delhi:
Nearly six months to go for the much-awaited FIH men's hockey World Cup and nine out of the 12 teams have already booked their place in the flagship event to be held here from February 28 to March 13.
Apart from hosts India, Canada (champion of the third Pan American Cup), Korea (champion of the eighth Asia Cup), South Africa (champion of the Africa Cup of Nations, 2009), Australia (champion of the sixth Oceania Cup) have qualified for the event.
England (champion of the 12th EuroHockey Nations Championship), Germany (silver medalist of the 12th EuroHockey Nations Championship), Netherlands (bronze medalist of the 12th EuroHockey Nations Championship) and Spain (fourth ranked team of the 12th EuroHockey Nations Championship) have also made it to the mega-event.
However, 18 teams still have a chance to claim one of the three remaining slots for the event from the three World Cup qualifiers to be held in Lille, France from October 31-November 8; Invercargill, New Zealand from November 7-15 and Quilmes, Argentina from November 14-22, the FIH said in a statement.
These teams are Pakistan, Japan, France, Poland, Russia and Italy (in Lille qualifier); New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Austria, Scotland and Wales (in Invercargill qualifier); Belgium, Argentina, Ireland, USA, Czech Republic and Chile (in Quilmes qualifier).