In a year disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic that terrorised the world, the Indian Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams will stand at 4th and 9th positions in their respective FIH rankings.
FIH INTRODUCED A NEW RATING SYSTEM THIS JANUARY
In January this year, FIH introduced a new model to calculate the international rankings. As a result, the FIH Pro League matches early in the year saw regular fluctuations in international standings, before Covid-19 outbreak closed borders and stopped hockey from being played in international standard across the world.
The return of international competition between September and November saw even more exchanges of points between the men’s and women’s national teams of Belgium, Germany, Netherlands and Great Britain.
“The rankings calculations model that FIH introduced on 1st January 2020 moved away from the previous tournament-based rankings system to a dynamic, match-based method where opposing teams exchange points in official, FIH sanctioned games. The number of points exchanged depends on the result of the match, the relative ranking of the teams and the importance of the match,” A FIH statement noted.
BELGIUM AND NETHERLANDS LEAD THE RANKINGS
FIH has declared that Belgium National Hockey Team will stand atop the Men’s rankings at the end of this year. For the women, the first position will be occupied by the Dutch.
Belgium men and Netherlands women finish 2020 at top of FIH World Rankings!@hockeybe @oranjehockey
Read the full story 👉 https://t.co/SDJaIbnoyV pic.twitter.com/8rAdggfplI
— International Hockey Federation (@FIH_Hockey) December 21, 2020
In the men’s FIH rankings, the reigning world and European champions Belgium (2496.88 points) are at the top, followed by Australia (2385.70), Netherlands (2257.96), India (2063.78), Olympic champions Argentina (1967.39), Germany (1944.34), England / Great Britain (1743.77), New Zealand (1575.00), Spain (1559.32) and Canada (1417.37).
In the Women’s rankings, The Netherlands (2631.99 points) are at the top at a long distance from second-placed Argentina (2174.61), followed by Germany (2054.28), Australia (2012.89), England / Great Britain (1952.74), New Zealand (1818.98), Spain (1802.13), Ireland (1583.09), India (1543.00) and China (1521.00).
Sport and Development Director Jon Wyatt stated although the movement in rankings were far from perfect, owing to the lack of matches caused by the pandemic, “We are all looking forward to seeing the dynamism of the system working to its full potential once the complete programme of international matches restarts again, so that the rankings will reflect the current form of each team. Let’s hope that’s not too far away.”
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