By Paul Osborne

Scotland prepare to host both the Champions Challenge One and Four-Nations over the next week ©Getty ImagesApril 24 - Glasgow will become the home of hockey over the next week as the city gets set to host both the women's Champions Challenge One and the men's Four-Nations competitions.

Scheduled to take place simultaneously, the two competitions will be held at the Glasgow National Hockey Centre, the same venue that will be used for the sport in the Commonwealth Games, which start on July 23.

The Four-Nations will begin tomorrow with a three-day round robin, with the final and semi-final set to take place on Tuesday (April 29).

As for the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Champions Challenge One, the week-long tournament is scheduled to get underway on Sunday (April 27) with classification matches, the third-place playoff and the final set for May 4.

Originally a five nation competition, before Pakistan dropped out due to financial reasons, the men's tournament sees Scotland, currently ranked number 23 in the world, up against England, ranked four, Belgium, ranked five and Argentina, ranked 11, as the squad prepares for the first Commonwealth Games on Scottish soil since 1986, when Edinburgh played host.

The other three teams will be preparing for the FIH Hockey World Cup in The Hague's Kyocera Stadion from May 31 to June 15.

There is added pressure on the women as they prepare for their first games on Sunday with the winner of the tournament qualifying for the 2016 Challenge Trophy.

The women's teams will all be battling for a spot in the 2016 Champions Trophy when competition gets underway in Glasgow on Sunday ©Getty ImagesThe women's teams will all be battling for a spot in the 2016 Champions Trophy when competition gets underway in Glasgow on Sunday ©Getty Images



The Champions Challenge pits the teams ranked eight to 16 on the FIH world rankings against each other for ever important ranking points and promotion to the Champions Trophy.

This year will be the last Champions Challenge One as the Hockey World League is replacing it in the hockey calendar.

The competition splits the eight teams into two pools with the Scottish women set to face Belgium, India and Korea in Pool A while Pool B features Ireland, South Africa, Spain and the United States.

As each tournament looms ever closer both the Scottish men's and women's teams were in action yesterday, testing out their squads for the forthcoming matches.

Unfortunately for the hosts, both teams failed to record a win with the men losing out to Argentina by three goals to two and the women falling to a 2-1 defeat to Ireland.

The Scottish men will be hoping for better luck tomorrow when they go head-to-head with Belgium in their opening match, while the other Four-Nations opener sees England take on Argentina.

As for the Scottish women, they also get their competition underway with an encounter against Belgium, while India and Korea go head-to-head in the other Pool A fixture.

Pool A begins with the United States up against Spain, while South Africa takes on Ireland.

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