The Indian males’s hockey group will open the 2023 World Cup in opposition to Spain on the newly constructed Birsa Munda Worldwide Hockey Stadium in Rourkela on January 13.
The hosts will keep in Rourkela for his or her second Pool D match in opposition to England on January 15 earlier than flying out to Bhubaneswar to face Wales of their last group recreation on the Kalinga Stadium—the venue of the earlier World Cup in 2018, the worldwide hockey federation (FIH) introduced on Tuesday.
Argentina, the 2016 Olympic gold medallists, and South Africa will play the opening recreation of the showpiece occasion in Bhubaneswar on January 13 earlier than world No 1 Australia face France on the similar venue a few hours later.
After the 2 Pool A matches, neighbours England and Wales will play Rourkela’s first recreation earlier than India’s contest later within the night. All of India’s group video games will likely be held at 7 pm IST.
In whole, 44 matches will likely be performed with all of the knockouts to be held in Bhubaneswar. The 4 crossover video games will likely be performed on January 22 and 23 with the quarter-finals scheduled on January 24 and 25. The semi-finals will likely be held on January 27 with the ultimate scheduled on January 29. All groups will play at each venues.
The hosts have been handed a difficult draw, grouped in Pool D together with England, Spain and Wales. It’s the solely group to comprise three of the world’s top-8 groups with India ranked as No 5, a spot forward of England and world No 8 Spain. Wales are ranked No 16.
Pool A will likely be headed by world No 1 Australia, who claimed bronze on the final World Cup in 2018. The reigning Commonwealth Video games champions could have Argentina, world No 11 France and African champions South Africa of their group.
Pool B includes reigning world and Olympic champions Belgium alongside world No 4 Germany. The 2 European groups will likely be joined by two Asian representatives in South Korea and reigning Asian Video games gold medallists Japan.
Pool C will characteristic the runners-up of final version, the Netherlands who will tackle New Zealand, Malaysia and Chile.
Chile and Wales have certified for the World Cup for the primary time.
The highest-placed group on the finish of the group stage will advance on to the quarter-finals whereas the second and third-placed groups will play their counterparts from different swimming pools within the crossovers. The winners of crossovers will then earn a spot within the final eight.
On the World Cup, India have completed on the rostrum thrice. They claimed bronze within the 1971 version in Barcelona earlier than a silver medal end two years later at Amstelveen. The one time India received gold was in 1975 when the Ajit Pal Singh-led aspect beat Pakistan 2-1 within the last in Kuala Lumpur.
Within the final version, India exited the quadrennial event within the quarter-finals after dropping 1-2 to eventual finalists the Netherlands. Belgium are the defending champions, having defeated the Netherlands within the last of the 2018 version.