Date:15/02/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/02/15/stories/2008021560782400.htm

Sport - Hockey

Australia to host Champions Trophy 2009

MELBOURNE: Australia will host the men’s and women’s Champions Trophy field hockey tournaments in 2009.

The International Hockey Federation officials on Thursday said the women’s Champions Trophy will be played at Sydney Olympic Park from July 11 to 19 and the men’s event from November 28 to December 6 at the State Hockey Centre in Melbourne.

Germany won the men’s Champions Trophy in 2007 and the Netherlands the women’s event. Australia last hosted the men’s event at Brisbane in 1999 and the women’s Champions Trophy in Canberra in 2005. With no Olympic or World Cup tournaments on the schedule next year, the two Champions Trophy tournaments will be the top field hockey events of 2009. — AP