Asian Games: India men’s hockey team clubbed with Pakistan in Pool A | Hockey News

The Indian men’s hockey team was placed in Pool A along with Pakistan for the Hangzhou Asian Games. Aside from these two teams, Japan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Uzbekistan were also placed in the same pool. India will face Pakistan in the much-anticipated encounter on September 30. On the other hand, the Indian women’s hockey team were placed along with Korea, Malaysia, China, Oman, Thailand and Indonesia in Pool A. The hockey schedule was jointly announced by the Hangzhou Asian Games organising committee and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) on Tuesday, after approval from the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

We are placed along with some strong teams in our pool, including Japan, who won the Gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. But we will treat all teams at par and will not be taking any competition lightly,” Harmanpreet Singh, who is currently leading the team at the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy said in a release.

“We are already getting a chance to compete with some of these nations at the Asian Champions Trophy and we will look forward to using this experience to our advantage in the future.

“Our coaches have always instilled in us that we need to be prepared for all our rivals. We will study all our opponents for the Hangzhou Asian Games, re-watch all videos to learn about their strengths and weaknesses and prepare our plans accordingly.” The Group B in men’s section comprises South Korea, Malaysia, China, Oman, Thailand and Indonesia, while the women’s teams in Group B will comprise of Japan, China, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Indonesia.

“Hangzhou Asian Games is an important event, especially with a chance to earn a direct Olympic qualification. All the players are unified by the common goal to perform their best at the Games and if we can do that, then we are in with a good chance to finish at the podium, irrespective of which teams we face in the competition.”

All hockey matches will be played at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium in Hangzhou, China. The men’s final will be played on October 6, while the women’s title clash will be held the very next day

(With agency inputs)