Tokyo 2020 Hockey Knockout Stage – how it works
Published Sun 01 Aug 2021
As the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos enter the business end of the Tokyo Olympic Hockey Tournament, here is everything you need to know about the Knockout Stage.
Both the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos have finished top of their pools.
With Australia’s flagship national hockey teams in prime position for a gold medal assault, here is the process of how they get there.
Preliminary Rounds
In the Men’s and Women’s Hockey competitions, 12 teams are split into two pools of six. Each team plays five group stage matches against the other teams in their pool (the teams in each Pool were determined using the FIH World Rankings as of 4 November 2019).
Men’s competition
Pool A: Australia, Argentina, India, Spain, New Zealand, Japan
Pool B: Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, South Africa
Women’s competition
Pool A: Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, India, South Africa
Pool B: Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Spain, China, Japan
Who qualifies for the Knockout Stage
The top four teams in each Pool at the end of the Preliminary Rounds progress to the Quarter Finals.
How the Knockout Stage works
In the Quarter Finals, the top four teams of one pool will each play a team from the other pool.
The top team in Pool A will take on the fourth placed team from Pool B. Second in Pool A will take on third from Pool B and vice-versa.
As top of Pool A, the Kookaburras will take on the Netherlands (finished fourth in Pool B).
As top of Pool B, the Hockeyroos will take on India (finished fourth in Pool A).
The four losing teams in the Quarter Finals will be eliminated, while the four winners move through to the Semi Finals.
If the Kookaburras defeat the Netherlands, they will take on the winner of the Quarter Final between Germany (2nd in Pool B) and Argentina (3rd in Pool A).
If the Hockeyroos progress to the Semi Finals, they will take on the winner of the Quarter Final between 2nd in Pool A and 3rd in Pool B.
The losers of the Semi-Finals will play off in the Bronze Medal match.
The winners of the Semi-Finals will play off in the Gold Medal match.
What happens if there is a draw in the Knockout Stage
If there is a draw at full time there will be a shoot-out to determine the winner. A coin-toss will decide who shoots first.
In the shoot-out, each team selects five players to take one shoot-out each. If a winner isn’t determined after the first five shots, it will go to sudden death where each team will take a shot until a winner is determined.
A player taking a shot in the shoot-out will start from the 23-metre line and can move in any direction and have 8 seconds to score past the goalkeeper. The goalkeeper will start on the goal line between the goal posts.
Knockout Stage schedule
Men’s Competition
Quarter Finals – Sunday 1 August 2021
Semi Finals – Tuesday 3 August 2021
Bronze Medal match – Thursday 5 August 2021 (10.30am local, 11.30am AEST)
Gold Medal match – Thursday 5 August 2021 (7.00pm local, 8.00pm AEST)
Women’s Competition
Quarter Finals – Monday 2 August 2021
Semi Finals – Wednesday 4 August 2021
Bronze Medal match – Friday 6 August 2021 (10.30am local, 11.30am AEST)
Gold Medal match – Friday 6 August 2021 (7.00pm local, 8.00pm AEST)
