Malaysia, Scotland to host Champions Challenge 1 hockey events

Malaysia will host the men's Hockey Champions Challenge 1 next year while women's competition will be held in Scotland, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced today.
Both Champions Challenge 1 events are set to be held at the end of April, 2014.
"The Hockey Champions Challenge 1 2014 events for men and women have been allocated to the Malaysian Hockey Confederation and Scottish Hockey respectively," the FIH said in a release.
The men's event will be held from April 26 to May 4, with the women's event starting a day later and finishing on May 4.
Introduced in 2001, the Champions Challenge 1 is an international hockey event played every two years. Part of the champions series of events, the competition is a key qualification route to the illustrious Champions Trophy.

The winners of the Champions Challenges 1 in 2014 qualify for the Champions Trophy in 2016.

The men's event will take place at the Kuantan Hockey Stadium in Kuantan, the state capital of Pahang on the Eastern coast of Malaysia.
The venue has previously hosted the Asia Cup in 2009 and a Hockey World League Round 1 event in 2012.
The women's event will be held at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre at Glasgow Green, a newly constructed venue to host the Commonwealth Games next year.
Teams in men's section:
New Zealand (currently 5th in the FIH World Ranking), Spain (joint 6th), Korea (joint 6th), South Africa (12th), Malaysia (13th), Canada (14th), Ireland (15th) and Japan (16th).

Women's section:
Korea (currently 8th in the FIH World Ranking), USA (10th), South Africa (11th), India (12th), Belgium (13th), Spain (14th), Ireland (15th) and Scotland (19th).