The 2024-25 edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League has provided fans with thrilling action from the very first whistle, with intense shootouts, dramatic comebacks, and standout performances. Across the first three stages of the season, the competition has already seen several surprises, with some of the world’s best teams battling for supremacy.
The new season of the FIH Hockey Pro League started off with a series of gripping encounters from Hangzhou, China and Amsterdam, Netherlands, highlighted by nerve-wracking shootouts and high-scoring affairs.
Hangzhou Stage
China came in as favourites for their home stage that started things off in the new season. Fresh off their remarkable silver medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Alyson Annan’s China delivered on their promise securing the most (8) points from the Hangzhou stage that also involved the Belgium women’s team and a new look young English side with plenty of debutants following a wave of retirements, post Olympics.
Despite China’s favourites tag, the “league of the best” does ensure competitive balance, as Belgium stayed close on their heels, securing 7 points from the first stage, followed by England who also picked up 3 points with an impressive 3-1 win over the more experienced Belgian outfit.
The games that stood out apart from England’s win over Belgium, was Belgium’s 2-1 win over China in the second of the two matches between the two sides, after the first one had ended in a shoot-out win for China following a 2-2 draw in regulation time. The final home game for China also saw them click into the highest gear and leave their home fans with a stunning result as their attack smashed 8 past England in an 8-2 win to end the Hangzhou stage of the 2024-25 season of the FIH Pro League.
Amsterdam Stage
The Amsterdam stage saw the start of men’s FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 competition with three of the best teams in the world competing, as Netherlands, Germany and Belgium took center stage.
A Paris 2024 gold medal rematch started things off as once again Netherlands got past Germany in a shoot-out following a draw in regulation and they repeated the feat in their next game against Belgium as well.
Belgium to their credit, took the most points from the Amsterdam stage with 2 wins and 2 draws earning them 8 points. However, two losses in the shoot-outs following the draws will sting the Belgians as the title could go down to the wire, where each additional point will be hugely valuable.
Netherlands picked up the bonus points in both matches against the Red Lions following draws and ended their home stage with 6 points, through three shoot-out wins and one loss coming at the hands of the Germans.
Germany meanwhile finished with the fewest points, as they lost both their matches against Belgium, picking up 4 points from a draw and a win against the hosts.
The Amsterdam stage delivered on its promise, with every single match being a closely fought encounter. Up until the final match, where Belgium defeated Germany 6-3, every single match was decided by just one goal or through shoot-outs.
Santiago del Estero Stage
The third stage from Argentina saw action continue with Argentina, England and Ireland competing in the men’s matches, while Netherlands and Germany joined hosts Argentina in the women’s competition.
England men made a near perfect start to the competition winning three matches and taking the shoot-out bonus in the fourth to become the early league leaders with 11 points. Argentina won both their matches against Ireland, but also lost both encounters to the English, taking 6 points from the stage. Ireland secured a sole point at Santiago del Estero, through an entertaining 3-3 draw followed by a shoot-out loss against England.
Netherlands, Argentina and Germany going head-to-head was an exciting proposition for the passionate fans in Argentina as well as around the world, with all three teams being ranked within the top-4 in the women’s world rankings!
Netherlands came in as favourites, having won every major silverware available to them over the past few years. And while they did end up taking the most points from their first stage, taking 9 out of the possible 12, it was a step down from the previous seasons, where they had near perfect seasons, without recording any outright losses. The Paris 2024 gold medalists recorded two wins in two against Germany and while they won their first match against Argentina, the Leonas struck back in their second match-up to even the scores for the season.
Argentina and Germany played out two entertaining draws with each team grabbing one bonus point by winning one shoot-out each. Argentina find themselves on 6 points after the first stage, while Germany have work to do to climb the points table, currently finding themselves in sixth with 3 points.
Six men’s and women’s teams played their first set of 4 matches through these three stages and the remaining 3 men’s and women’s teams will begin their 2024-25 campaign in February 2025, with action starting in Sydney, Australia and Bhubaneswar, India. To see the full schedule, click here.
The current points table following the China, Netherlands and Argentina stages of the FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25 can be found here.
