Australia men & Netherlands women hold firm atĀ the top of the rankings
Belgium men leap-frog England into 4thĀ while USA women move up to 5th
TheĀ International Hockey Federation (FIH) has released theĀ latest FIH World Rankings as of March 2015.Ā TheseĀ include points awarded following the completion of theĀ Hockey World League Round 2 events.Ā
In the FIH Menās World Rankings, 2014 World ChampionsĀ Australia (1), World Cup Silver medallists the NetherlandsĀ (2) and 2012 Olympic Champions Germany (3) continue to holdĀ the top three positions, with Tom Boonās BelgiumĀ moving into fourth place ahead of Ashley JacksonāsĀ England, who drop to fifth.
Argentinaās Los LeonesĀ retain sixth place ahead of New Zealand (7), Korea (8),Ā India (9) and Pakistan (10).
Malaysia (12), Ireland (14), Canada (15), Japan (16),Ā Poland (17), France (18), Egypt (20), Austria (22) and ChinaĀ (31) all secured top three finishes in the Hockey WorldĀ League Round 2 events, reaching the Olympic qualifierĀ Semi-Final phase and collecting crucial ranking points inĀ the process.
Although these teams have seen little change inĀ their current FIH World Ranking on this occasion, theirĀ involvement in the upcoming Hockey World League Semi-FinalsĀ will generate even more points and could trigger someĀ significant movement.
The top four positions in the FIH Womenās WorldĀ Rankings remain the same, with the Netherlands (1),Ā Australia (2), Argentina (3) and New Zealand (4) allĀ retaining their places. However, there has been someĀ movement in the 5-8 positions, with USA moving from eighthĀ place to fifth ahead of Germanyās Die Danas (6), ChinaĀ (7), England (8), Korea (9) and Japan (10).
As with the menās rankings, the teams that securedĀ qualification from Round 2 to the Semi-Finals of theĀ womenās Hockey World League have experienced onlyĀ subtle changes in terms of the position in the FIH WorldĀ Rankings at this stage.
However India (13), Ireland (14),Ā Italy (16), Azerbaijan (19), Canada (20), Poland (23) andĀ Uruguay (29) will all collect performance-related pointsĀ from their involvement in the HWL Semi-Finals, somethingĀ which could initiate substantial changes.
To see the latest FIH World Rankings in full, clickĀ here. The next update to the FIH World Rankings will beĀ made following the completion of the Hockey World LeagueĀ Semi-Final events which take place in June and July.
