About The Sport
A game consists of two 35-minute periods, with a 10 minute interval for half-time.
For the men’s competition there are 12 teams of 16 players which are placed into two pools of six for the preliminary rounds. Each team plays every other team in that pool. The top two teams in each pool progress to the semifinals. The remaining teams play for classification 5-12.
Winners of the semifinals play for the gold medal, and losers of the semifinal play for the bronze.
For women there are 12 teams which are placed into two pools of six teams. Like the men’s competition, each team plays every other team in that pool. The best two teams of each group progress to the semifinals, and the remaining teams play for classification 5-12. Winners of the semifinals play for the gold medal, and losers of the semifinal play for the bronze.