Paris 2024 Hockey: Everything you need to know about Team GB Olympic qualifiers

Great Britain's men finished fifth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, missing out on a semi-final place to India

Great Britain's men's and women's hockey teams have one last chance to qualify for the Paris Olympics this month and you can watch it on the BBC.

The women's team travel to Valencia for their qualifiers where they will face Canada, Malaysia and Spain in Pool B.

Meanwhile, the men's team take on China, Malaysia and Pakistan in Pool A in Oman.

Both teams need to secure a place in the top three of their respective tournaments to qualify for Paris 2024.

Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming qualifiers.

How can GB qualify for Olympics?

Five men's and women's teams have already booked their place at the Paris 2024 Olympics, along with hosts France.

The Netherlands, Australia, Argentina and South Africa's men's and women's teams all earned direct qualification, along with India's men and China's women.

That leaves six places remaining and 16 teams, including both Great Britain and Ireland, will look to secure their place at the summer tournament via a final round of qualifying matches beginning on Saturday, 13 January (women) and Monday, 15 January (men).

Countries have been split into two groups of eight based on their world ranking and each group will compete in a different location.

GB and Ireland's women will both be playing in Valencia, while GB's men travel to Oman and the Irish men will also be in Valencia.

The eight teams have been split into two pools of four and after playing their three pool matches, the top two from each will play in the semi-finals then the final or the third-place play-off match, with the top three teams securing Olympic qualification.

GB women won Olympic gold in Rio in 2016 and bronze in Tokyo three years ago, but tough opposition stands between them and a place at Paris 2024.

They face Canada, who are coached by their former coach Danny Kerry and player Kate Richardson Walsh, in their first qualifier before taking on tough opposition in Spain in their second, who are eighth in the world rankings behind seventh-placed GB.

Meanwhile, GB's men have not won an Olympic medal since 1988 and missed out on a semi-final spot to India in Tokyo.

Great Britain's men finished fifth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, missing out on a semi-final place to India

Who are GB's key players?

Olympic gold medallist Maddie Hinch announced her retirement from the sport last year meaning Sabbie Heesh is GB's preferred goalkeeper and her team-mate Anna Toman said the 32-year-old is one to keep an eye on at the qualifiers.

"Sabbie had extremely big shoes to fill. And it's been a bit of a difficult time for her," Toman told BBC Sport.

"I think she seemed to find her way of doing things and it was just so much pressure on her coming in and filling that spot after Maddie.

"What she's realised is she's not Maddie. But she also found her confidence, she had this aura about her on and off the pitch."

Toman also cited 22-year-old midfielder Sophie Hamilton as a player with "a huge amount of potential".

"She's hugely talented in the midfield line and can create so much for us and she's also a very intelligent player. So I think as a team we really need to help her achieve what I believe she can," said Toman.

The experience of Laura Roper, GB women's most decorated player with three Olympic medals under her belt, will undoubtedly be key while Hannah French and Lily Owsley could also be integral to creating chances and unlocking defences at the tournament.

On the men's team, forward Nick Bandurak has quickly become central to the GB squad, scoring 42 goals in 52 combined GB and England appearances since making his senior debut in February 2022.

Meanwhile, Zach Wallace was recently nominated for the International Hockey Federation's World Player of the Year while Scotland's Lee Morton is capable of creating something out of nothing via his individual skills.

How can I watch the qualifiers?

All Great Britain's matches, men's and women's, will be streamed live on the BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport website and app.

Matches will also be available to watch on catch up on the BBC iPlayer.

Fixtures

GB Women

All times are GMT

Saturday 13 January - GB v Canada 08:30

Sunday 14 January - Spain v GB 10:45

Tuesday 16 January - GB v Malaysia 13:15

Thursday 18 January - Semi-finals 11:30 and 14:30

Saturday 20 January - Final 17:00; third-place play-off 14:30

GB Men

All times are GMT

Monday 15 January - GB v Pakistan - 16:45

Tuesday 16 January - Malaysia v GB - 16:45

Thursday 18 January - GB v China - 14:30

Saturday 20 January - Semi-finals - 14:00 and 16:30

Sunday 21 January - Final - 16:30; third-place play-off - 14:00

What about Ireland?

Ireland's men and women are both competing in Valencia with the women competing against Belgium, Korea and Ukraine while the Irish men are up against Belgium, Japan and Ukraine.

The Irish women finished in fifth place at the EuroHockey Championships in Germany in August while the men won the EuroHockey Division II title in Dublin in July to advance to the Olympic qualifiers.

Both men's and women's teams are ranked 13th and will have to overcome teams ranked above them to have a chance of qualification.

Ireland's men did not qualify for Tokyo 2020 while the women competed at the Olympics for the first time in Japan, finishing 10th.