The good news just keeps on coming for the German men’s national team. On the heels of their Olympic gold medal, the FIH released the updated World Ranking, and now the Germans hold the top spot on the men’s side, taking over from Australia, which claimed bronze in London.
Following the conclusion of the 2012 London Olympics, the FIH released its updated world ranking. On the women’s side, the biggest mover was New Zealand, which jumped clear up to third place after its semi-final showing in London. Germany went in the opposite direction, falling out of the top three and moving down to seventh place.
Besides the flip-flop to the top two positions on the men’s side, Belgium was the team to make the most waves. On the heels of their fifth-place finish in London, they jumped up from 11th place to 8th, going into single digit territory.
To view the new version of the FIH Men's and Women's World Ranking, click here
Of note is the review and revision of the FIH World Ranking system in time for the launch of the FIH World League. Below is a complete explanation of the changes that were made to the new World Ranking points system.
Review of FIH World Ranking Points – August 2012
At its meeting held on 9 and 10 August, the FIH Executive Board considered the report and recommendations of the Task and Finish Group appointed by the Competitions Committee to review the FIH World Rankings. This was the 4-yearly review of the continental weightings element of the world rankings. The last review took place after the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and one of its recommendations was that the next one should take place following the London 2012 Olympic Games. Consistent with the approach previously taken, only alterations that are obvious were recommended. It was noted by the Executive Board that after the first two rounds of the first FIH World League competition there will be much better information from cross continental games enabling another review to be held in 12 months.
It was important to have the current review as fairness dictates that the weightings are as current as possible as qualification, event allocation and pools are determined on rankings. The next update of the rankings will occur immediately after the London Olympic Games. This review will be incorporated into that update.
The continental weightings attempt to achieve fairness between continents. Because coming 3rd in the European Championships is not equivalent to coming 3rd in the Oceania Cup, it is necessary to assign weightings. The system for weightings commences with 100% for Europe with the other continents compared and a weighting given.
The Continental Weightings
Africa men
Unfortunately the depth of African hockey is diminishing and acceptance of opportunities to compete has been poor meaning that the comparative strength of Africa with the rest of the world in decreasing. As a result the African men’s rankings will be altered as follows –
4th 28% down to 23%
5th 23% down to 17%
6th 23% down to 12%.
Asia men
Historically the 4th ranked team in Asia has been competitive with 4th in Europe; this is no longer the case and was recently demonstrated at the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. When originally drafted, the playing strength in Asia dropped away dramatically from about 11th whereas now the lower ranked nations are much more competitive. As a result the Asian men’s rankings will be altered as follows –
4th 100% down to 90%.
11th 22.5% up to 40.5%
12th 22.5% up to 40.5%.
Oceania men
The second team in Oceania is now one of the top ranked teams in the world. They are the equal of second in Asia and very competitive with second in Europe. As a result the Oceania men's rankings will be altered as follows –
2nd 80% up to 100%.
Pan America men
Second in Pan America is a little over weighted given the recent results in the Olympic Qualification Tournaments but there will be no changes in this round of review.
African women
No changes were recommended.
Asia women
Greater depth is apparent in Asia women; however at present there was no good case to be made for change. The performance of Asian teams at the Olympic Qualification Tournaments was encouraging and if this continues the next review may well recommend a change. Therefore, it was agreed that no changes would be made at present.
Oceania women
As with the men, second in Oceania is now one of the top ranked teams in the world. The following change will be made –
2nd 90% up to 100%.
Pan America women
Second in Pan America is much more competitive than in the past. However, there is a big drop from 2nd to 3rd. Teams ranked 3rd to 6th in Pan America had poor comparative results in the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.
2nd 87.5% up to 100%.
3rd 75% down to 60%
4th 75% down to 50%
5th 75% down to 50%.
