Azerbaijan win Round 1 of Hockey World League

Azerbaijan won Round 1 of the Hockey World League (HWL) after beating Sri Lanka 4-3 in their last match at the Al Rayyan stadium. Azerbaijan won all the four matches to top the standings with 12 points, while hosts Qatar finished second (9 points).

Azerbaijani hockey players Balamiyev Saleh, Gazanfar Ali, Tariq Aziz and Babar Abdullah scored for Azerbaijan who were trailing 1-3 at one stage.

Azerbaijan joins Poland, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Ireland, Austria, Egypt, Scotland, Portugal, Trinidad & Tobago, Chile and USA who all have qualified to Round 2 after strong performances at respective events in Prague (Czech Republic), Singapore, Cardiff (Wales), Accra (Ghana), Lousada (Portugal), Port of Spain (Trinidad & Tobago) and Chula Vista (USA).

The Doha event was the eighth Round 1 event to take place so far. The Hockey World League has been developed by the FIH to present hockey at its best whilst also providing rapidly improving hockey nations with a stage to show what they are capable of. The tournament has four rounds which take place between August 2012 and February 2013, with each round acting as a qualifier for the next. This process gives every team the potential reach the tournament final.  The Hockey World League also acts as the qualification competition for the FIH World Cups which take place in 2014, with 12 qualification places up for grabs. 


/Trend/