World Cup: India faces Japan first

KUALA LUMPUR, OCT. 30. India will clash with Japan in its first Pool B match on the opening day of the 10th World Cup hockey tournament, scheduled to be held here from February 24 to March 9.

World Cup debutant Cuba takes on Olympic silver medallist Korea in the first match of the championship. Later the same day, defending champion Holland will open its campaign against New Zealand, while host Malaysia faces Australia.

In the other four opening day matches, England lines up against Poland, Pakistan meets South Africa, runner-up Spain faces Belgium and European champion Germany faces off against Argentina.

The 10th World Cup is featuring for the first time an enlarged field of 16 teams divided into two pools of eight. They are scheduled to play a total of 72 matches over 13 days. The final is on March 9.

Pool A: Argentina, Belgium, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Spain and South Africa. Pool B: Australia, India, Cuba, England, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Poland.

All matches will be held at the national hockey stadium in Bukit Jalil. Seating at the main stadium will be increased by 3,000 temporary seats to 15,000, while an additional 2,800 temporary seats will increase the capacity at the second stadium to 4,800.

The Malaysian Hockey Federation deputy president and World Cup organising committee deputy chairman, Mr. P. Alagendra, announced the fixtures for the World Cup. Under the format, each team plays seven pool matches, followed by crossover classification play- offs before the final classification matches.

The top two teams in each pool qualify for the semifinals, while the third and fourth fight for the 5th-8th places, the fifth and sixth for the 9th-12th places, and the last two teams battle for the 13th-16th places.

The Schedule: Feb. 24: Cuba vs Korea, England vs Poland, Pakistan vs South Africa, Belgium vs Spain, Germany vs Argentina, Holland vs New Zealand, Japan vs India, Malaysia vs Australia.

Feb. 25: Pakistan vs Belgium, South Africa vs Germany, New Zealand vs Spain, Holland vs Argentina.

Feb. 26: Korea vs India, Japan vs Malaysia, Australia vs England, Poland vs Cuba.

Feb. 27: Belgium vs Holland, Argentina vs South Africa, Germany vs Spain, Malaysia vs India, Poland vs Australia, Pakistan vs New Zealand, England vs Cuba, Korea vs Japan.

Feb. 28: Spain vs Holland, South Africa vs New Zealand, Argentina vs Pakistan, Belgium vs Germany.

March 1: Australia vs Cuba, Poland vs Japan, India vs England, Malaysia vs Korea.

March 2: Germany vs New Zealand, Spain vs South Africa, Japan vs Australia, Belgium vs Argentina, India vs Cuba, Korea vs Poland, Pakistan vs Holland, England vs Malaysia.

March 3: Argentina vs New Zealand, Spain vs Pakistan, South Africa vs Belgium, Holland vs Germany.

March 4: England vs Japan, Malaysia vs Cuba, India vs Poland, Australia vs Korea.

March 5: Belgium vs New Zealand, Pakistan vs Germany, South Africa vs Holland, Cuba vs Japan, England vs Korea, India vs Australia, Argentina vs Spain, Poland vs Malaysia.

March 6: Rest day.

March 7 & 8: Classification matches.

March 9: Third place match, final.

- UNI

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