With six months to go for the much-awaited FIH men's hockey World Cup, nine out of 12 teams have already booked places in the flagship event, to be held in Delhi from February 28 to March 13.
Apart from hosts India, Canada (winners of the third Pan American Cup), Korea (eighth Asia Cup winners), South Africa (winners of the Africa Cup of Nations, 2009), Australia (winners of the sixth Oceania Cup) have qualified for the event.
England (winners of the 12th EuroHockey Nations Championship), Germany (silver medalist of the 12th EuroHockey Nations Championship), Netherlands (bronze medalist of the 12th EuroHockey Nations Championship) and Spain (fourth-ranked team in the 12th EuroHockey Nations Championship) have also made it to the mega-event.
However, 18 teams still have a chance to claim one of the three remaining slots for the event from the three World Cup qualifiers to be held in Lille, France, from October 31 to November 8; Invercargill, New Zealand, from November 7-15 and Quilmes, Argentina, from November 14-22, according to the FIH.
These teams are Pakistan, Japan, France, Poland, Russia and Italy (in the Lille qualifier); New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Austria, Scotland and Wales (in Invercargill qualifier); Belgium, Argentina, Ireland, USA, Czech Republic and Chile (in Quilmes qualifier).
