Malaysia move up one rung to 14th in ranking

Malaysia’s eighth place finish in the recent Samsung Champions Trophy hockey tournament moved them up a rung to 14th in the FIH world-ranking list.

In August, Malaysia were ranked 16th. After winning the bronze medal in the Asia Cup in September, they went up to 15th.

Two-time world champions Germany reclaimed the top spot in the ranking after their triumph over Australia in the Champions Trophy final. The Germans carved out a 1-0 win in the final played at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last Sunday.

The Australians are in second place followed by Holland and Spain in third and fourth places respectively. England move up, pushing India out of eighth spot to ninth.

The next major event in the FIH calendar is the Olympic qualifiers, which will take place in New Zealand, Chile and Japan.

This will be held from February to April.

A total of 18 teams placed in three groups of six teams each are involved and only the group winners will make the cut to the Beijing Olympics.

Malaysia will play in Japan along with the hosts, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and another team, which will be named later.

The FIH ranking list will be used as a guide to seed the teams in the Beijing Olympics.