Amstelveen, The complicated format of the FIH Hockey World Cup has left teams, fans and media grappling with permutations and combinations, with the focus increasingly shifting from performances on the field to calculations about who can reach the semifinals.
Because those are the most exciting matches in the tournament, indian women’s team’s chief coach Sjoerd Marijne had said prior to the tournament that he personally prefers quarter finals. India’s men’s team is a case in point. After losing to the Netherlands in the second round, India are not yet mathematically eliminated and their semifinal hopes are hanging by a thread. England, despite losing to Argentina in their final Pool B match, have three points from the first phase. India do not face England in the second round and have only one match left against Argentina making their route to the last four dependent on results involving other teams. A coach of a former World Cup-winning and hosting team, speaking on condition of anonymity, felt the system could favour the bigger teams. “This format favours the bigger teams. If they win in the first round, they still have points to advance to the second round. Now, the mathematics of the equations become more important than the thrill of winning or losing in the knockout phase.
This has also taken away from the fun and surprise element of the game,” the coach said.
