Dawn (Eng)

The third edition of the Women's Champions Challenge took place at the USA Field Hockey National Training Center in Virginia Beach, United States. The event started on Friday July 8 and ended on Saturday July 16. Participating nations at the women's six nations tournament were England, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, and hosting nation the United States.

Each of the six teams play each other once in a round robin format to complete five preliminary round games. The top two teams at the end of the preliminary round matches play off in the final, with the winner earning a berth in the 2006 Champions Trophy in Amstelveen, The Netherlands. The 3rd and 4th placed teams play for the bronze medal, while the 5th and 6th placed teams meet in the 5th place play-off.

The tournament marked the return of a major international field hockey event to the United States for the first times since the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996. In addition to that, the USA hosted the 1989 Men's World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Madison, New Jersey, and the 1993 Women's World Cup Qualifier Tournament in Philadelphia.

Source: Wikipedia