Olympic Hockey at Tokyo 2020: Five things to know

Hockey is one of 33 sports that will take place at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. But who are the ones to watch? When will competition take place, and where will it be held? Ever wanted to know about the sport’s Olympic history? Here is our guide to the top things to know about Olympic hockey.

Olympic Hockey Format at Tokyo 2020

Men’s and women’s hockey follow the same format at Tokyo 2020, with 12 nations in both competitions. This consists of Japan, who qualify automatically as hosts but also as Asian champions (for both men and women), the four continental trophy winners plus seven teams from the 2019 FIH Olympic Qualifiers.

The 12 nations will be split into two round-robin groups of six, where the top four teams from each group will progress to the quarterfinals.

In hockey, three points are awarded for a win, and one for a draw. Once the groups are decided it is a standard, single-match knockout until the final, along with a bronze-medal match between the two semi-final losers.

Top Hockey Players to Watch at Tokyo 2020

If there’s one team that will be eyeing up a first Olympic gold in Tokyo this summer, it has to be the men’s hockey squad from Belgium.

The current world and European champions have spent time at the top of the FIH Pro League, and will be desperate to go one step further than their silver medal at Rio 2016.

Legendary players like Thomas Briels and John-John Dohmen, both 33 by the time the Games, will be aiming for gold.

There’ll be plenty of players out there to try and stop the Red Lions though – keep an eye out for Manpreet Singh as he attempts to revive India’s fortunes, as well as Argentina’s Luca Vila and Eddie Ockenden of Australia.