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India women's team will compete at home in the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers scheduled to be held from January 13 to 21 in Ranchi. After staging the Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2023, Ranchi will host the qualifiers after the tournament was moved from Changzhou, China.
A total of 16 teams have been divided into two groups (8 teams each) for both men's and women's qualifiers based on their world rankings. India will compete against Germany, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, United States, Italy and Czech Republic in their group.
Meanwhile, the other leg of qualifiers will be conducted in Valencia, Spain where Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, Korea, Ireland, Canada, Malaysia, and Ukraine will compete amongst each other.
The Indian men's hockey team has directly qualified for the Paris Olympics by winning the gold medal at the Asian Games 2023 that was held in Hangzhou last month.
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The men's qualifiers will take place in Muscat (Oman) and Valencia (Spain). Great Britain, Germany, New Zealand, Malaysia, Pakistan, Canada, Chile, and China will compete in Oman. Meanwhile, Belgium, Spain, Korea, Ireland, Japan, Austria, Egypt, and Ukraine will play in Spain.
Teams that finish in the top 3 in each of the four FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers 2024 will book their spot in the Paris Olympics 2024. Five men's and women's teams have already qualified for the quadrennial showpiece as continental champions.
This includes winners of the Pan American Games, African Hockey Road to Paris 2024, and Asian Games. France also got a direct entry by virtue of hosting the event.
India to ride on Asian Champions Trophy success
Indian women's team remained undefeated at the Asian Champions Trophy that recently concluded in Ranchi. The Savita Punia-led team won seven matches in a row to clinch their second title and their first since 2016.
India defeated Japan, whom they play in the qualifiers, twice in the six-team continental showpiece, including a 4-0 comprehensive win in the final.
