"It's such fantastic news for our sport to have back-to-back events hosted in this country," said Sally Munday, chief executive of England Hockey.

"We put a huge amount of work into these bids, so we're all delighted.

"This will really help us raise the profile of hockey and deliver a lasting legacy of participation.

"We're extremely grateful for the support given to us from our partners including the London Mayor's Office and UK Sport, who have committed to significant funding to help us stage these events which will benefit the hockey and sporting communities in this country hugely.

"I'd also like to thank new Minister for Sport Helen Grant for her support, who I'm sure will be a valuable supporter of our sport in the coming years."

The Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, due to be completed in 2014, will stage a major event back-to-back between 2015 and 2018

The women's Champions Trophy event in 2016, men's League Semi-Final in 2017 and World Cup 2018 all form part of UK Sport's Gold Event Series, which is investing £27million ($43 million/€32 million) of National Lottery funding to bring up to 70 world-class events to Britain to help build a strong legacy from London 2012.

"Through UK Sport's Gold Event series we will be bringing major hockey championships to Great Britain on a regular basis from 2015," said Liz Nicholl, UK Sport's chief executive.

"Supporting the staging of these high profile, world-level events demonstrates our commitment to helping to build a strong legacy from London 2012.

"Hockey is doing an excellent job building on their medal success in London and it is particularly pleasing to have won these bids which will showcase our committed, skilful and talented role models to inspire the next generation."

India, last night awarded the 2018 men's World Cup, will also host a major event every year between 2015 and 2018.

They will stage the men's Junior World Cup in 2016 and the the 2015 and 2017 editions of the men's World League Finals to be held in December.

The International Hockey Federation has adopted a new strategy to award its major events in four-year cycles

The move is part of International Hockey Federation's (FIH) new event assignment process, launched at the world governing body's Congress last November.

Argentina will host two events in 2015, with the men's World League Semi-Final and the women's World League Final, while Belgium will be the location for a joint men's and women's World League Semi-Finals tournament. 

In 2016, the men's Champions Trophy event have been awarded to Argentina.

The World League will dominate the 2017 calendar, with Semi-Final and Final events taking place in Belgium and Argentina, as well as England and India.

As well as the showpiece World Cup events in England and India, 2018 will also see Argentina playing host to the Women's Champions Trophy and the joint men's and women's Indoor World Cup.

"We were really pleased with the bids received and I am delighted that we have been able to set the calendar for the next four years", said Kelly Fairweather, chief executive of the FIH.

"We are greatly looking forward to bringing our fantastic events to all of these nations over the years ahead."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
November 2013: England and India to host 2018 Hockey World Cup
November 2013: Four nations prepare to learn fate of 2018 Hockey World Cup bids
September 2013: Australia, England, India, Malaysia and New Zealand bid to host 2018 Hockey World Cups
July 2013: Exclusive - We are definitely going for the 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup, says Robertson
April 2013: "We're going to do everything to make sure we host 2018 World Cup," says Munday