Visit the FIH website for the BDO Hockey Junior World Cup
The 16 teams at the women’s BDO Hockey Junior Word Cup in Santiago were treated to some local culture at a welcoming ceremony in Santiago tonight.
On the night before the start of the tournament, teams and officials were invited to a special function to welcome them to the Chile and wish them well in the fifth staging of the women’s Junior World Cup.
After being welcomed by Chilean Hockey Federation President Esteban Geyger Mailath, government dignitaries and FIH Executive Board member Rosa de Massa, guests were given a demonstration of traditional Chilean dancing.
The official opening ceremony will take place before tomorrow’s final match of day one. On the opening day, all 16 teams will be in action. England and USA will start the tournament at 09:30 local time, before a full round of matches is completed.
Netherlands, the tournament top seeds, will play Zimbabwe in the second match of the day in a daunting start for the Africans. Also on day one, India meet South Africa, Canada play Germany and Australia clash with Spain in a potentially close match.
The tournament is one of a number of hockey-related events occurring in Santiago over the next two weeks, with the FIH Executive Board holding its second meeting for the year during the last week of the event.
Also, the 3rd World Youth Hockey Promoters Festival will be held in conjunction with the tournament. The aim of the Global Festival is to create hockey development awareness among young people to promote hockey as a global sport played all around the world and last but not least to give youth a voice.
This year, the festival will attract more than 50 participants from approximately 25 countries.
