2019 Men's FIH Pro League
The 2019 Men's FIH Pro League was the first season of the Pro League, the premier men's field hockey national team league series. The tournament started in January 2019 and finished in June 2019 in Amstelveen, Netherlands.[1]
| Dates | 19 January – 30 June | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Teams | 8 (from 3 confederations) | ||
| Final positions | |||
| Champions | |||
| Runner-up | |||
| Third place | |||
| Tournament statistics | |||
| Matches played | 60 | ||
| Goals scored | 308 (5.13 per match) | ||
| Top scorer(s) | |||
| Best player | |||
  | |||
Australia defeated Belgium 3–2 in the final to win the first FIH Pro League title.[2]
The competition also served as a qualifier for the 2020 Summer Olympics with the four best teams qualifying for the FIH Olympic Qualifiers taking place in October and November 2019.
Qualification
    
Nine teams competed in a round-robin tournament with home and away matches, played from January to June, with the top four teams advancing to the final at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen, Netherlands.[3] In July 2017, Hockey India decided to withdraw the men's national team from the competition as they estimated the chances of qualifying for the Summer Olympics to be higher when participating in the Hockey Series. Hockey India also cited lack of clarity in the ranking system.[4][5] The International Hockey Federation subsequently invited Spain instead.[6] Pakistan was suspended on 23 January 2019 after they could not play their first three games.[7]
 Belgium (1)
 Australia (2)
 Netherlands (3)
 Argentina (4)
 Germany (6)
 Great Britain (7)
 New Zealand (8)
 Spain (9)(12)
 Pakistan
Results
    
    Standings
    
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SOW | SOL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 26 | +14 | 32 | Advance to Semi-finals[lower-alpha 1] | |
| 2 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 52 | 29 | +23 | 28 | ||
| 3 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 37 | 32 | +5 | 23 | ||
| 4 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 35 | 31 | +4 | 22 | ||
| 5 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 31 | 36 | −5 | 22 | ||
| 6 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 20 | ||
| 7 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 33 | 45 | −12 | 16 | ||
| 8 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 26 | 47 | −21 | 4 | ||
| 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Suspended | 
Fixtures
    
All times are local.[9]
 
 
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Due to heavy rain and thunder the match was cancelled and considered a 0–0 draw.[10]
 
 
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Grand Final
    
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 28 June | ||||||
| 6 | ||||||
| 30 June | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 28 June | ||||||
| 2 | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| Third place | ||||||
| 30 June | ||||||
| 3 | ||||||
| 5 | ||||||
Semi-finals
    
 
 
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Third place game
    
 
 
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Final
    
 
 
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Statistics
    
    Final standings
    
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | SOW | SOL | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Final standing | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 49 | 29 | +20 | 38 | Gold Medal | |
| 2 | 16 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 57 | 33 | +24 | 31 | Silver Medal | |
| 3 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 43 | 38 | +5 | 26 | Bronze Medal | |
| 4 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 39 | 42 | −3 | 22 | Fourth place | |
| 5 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 31 | 36 | −5 | 22 | Eliminated in group stage  | |
| 6 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 30 | 38 | −8 | 20 | ||
| 7 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 33 | 45 | −12 | 16 | ||
| 8 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 26 | 47 | −21 | 4 | 
Awards
    
| Player of the League | Top Goalscorer | Goalkeeper of the Grand Final | Goal of the Grand Final | 
|---|---|---|---|
Goalscorers
    
There were 308 goals scored in 60 matches, for an average of 5.13 goals per match.
12 goals
10 goals
9 goals
8 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
 Martín Ferreiro
 Ignacio Ortiz
 Lucas Vila
 Daniel Beale
 Tom Craig
 Trent Mitton
 Tom Wickham
 Florent van Aubel
 Thomas Briels
 Florian Fuchs
 Tom Grambusch
 Niklas Wellen
 Lukas Windfeder
 Adam Dixon
 Zachary Wallace
 Thierry Brinkman
 Jip Janssen
 Stephen Jenness
 Sam Lane
 Kane Russell
 Nic Woods
 Xavi Lleonart
 Josep Romeu
2 goals
1 goal
 Juan Catán
 Federico Fernández
 Juan Martín López
 Lucas Martínez
 Lucas Toscani
 Jake Harvie
 Eddie Ockenden
 Jack Welch
 Corey Weyer
 Dylan Wotherspoon
 Gauthier Boccard
 Simon Gougnard
 Loïck Luypaert
 Mats Grambusch
 Johannes Große
 Malte Hellwig
 Timur Oruz
 Moritz Röthlander
 David Condon
 Mark Gleghorne
 Ashley Jackson
 Luke Taylor
 Henry Weir
 Billy Bakker
 Lars Balk
 Roel Bovendeert
 Bob de Voogd
 Hayden Phillips
 Aidan Sarikaya
 Blair Tarrant
 Dylan Thomas
 Mackenzie Wilcox
 Diego Arana
 Marc Miralles
 Viçens Ruiz
 Ricardo Sánchez
 Marc Serrahima
Source: FIH
Notes
    
- As Australia and Belgium had already qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics via their own continental qualification tournaments (EuroHockey Championship, Oceania Cup), the teams placed below them (Netherlands, Great Britain) replaced their position as qualifiers to the Summer Olympics.
 - Pakistan was suspended on 23 January 2019.[7]
 
References
    
- "FIH unveils Hockey PRO League schedule". FIH. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
 - "Australia men win FIH Pro League and reclaim top spot in world rankings". FIH. 30 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
 - "'Game-changing' Hockey Pro League teams announced for 2019". fih.ch. 11 June 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
 - "Hockey India justifies withdrawal from FIH Pro League". The Times of India. 9 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
 - "FIH statement on the withdrawal of Hockey India from the Hockey Pro League". fih.ch. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
 - "FIH confirms Spain men and Belgium women join Hockey Pro League". fih.ch. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
 - "FIH Pro League: Pakistan out of first edition". fih.ch. 23 January 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
 - FIH Pro League Competition Regulations
 - "Venues announced for FIH Pro League matches". fih.ch. 30 August 2018.
 - "FIH Pro League: Argentina women edge past Germany; men's match cancelled due to inclement weather". www.fihproleague.com. International Hockey Federation. 23 February 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2019.