Asian Games 2018: Indian hockey team to face Hong Kong in opener

India will begin its title defence against Hong Kong on August 22 in the men’s hockey competition of the Asian Games. The event will be held in Indonesia.

The teams are divided into two pools. Indian team is a part of the Pool A alongside Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong, while Pool B is comprised of hosts Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Oman and Thailand. After finishing the Hong Kong challenge, India will play Japan on August 24 followed by matches against Korea and Sri Lanka.

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Elsewhere, The Indian women’s team has been placed in Pool B alongside defending champions Korea, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Indonesia. Pool A features China, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong China and Chinese Taipei.

The Indian women’s team will open its campaign against hosts Indonesia on August 19, followed by games against Kazakhstan, Korea and Thailand.

The 18th edition of the Asian Games will see the highest ever number of participating teams in the history of hockey competitions at the continental event. 21 teams from 14 countries will participate in the men’s and women’s categories in 60 matches over a course of weeks. The winners of the men’s and women’s categories will book their places in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

After 25 men’s and 20 women’s matches, the classification stage will begin on the August 29. Women’s final is scheduled to be played on August 31 while the men’s final will be played on the September 1.

This edition of the Asian Games will also witness the debut of Video Referral System in the continental event and All matches will be played in the Gelora Bung Karno Sports Complex in Jakarta.