Hockey World League Finals: India pitted against Argentina in tournament opener
This year’s Hockey World league Finals will see India facing Argentina in their first match, according to the International Hockey Federation(FIH). The prestigious tournament will take place in Raipur from November 27th to December 6th.
India are placed in highly challenging ‘Pool A’, which also features defending champions and world number two side the Netherlands, Olympic defending champions Germany and world number six Argentina. The opening day of the tournament will also witness a clash of Titans as Germany lock horns with Netherlands.
In a departure from the schedules of the previous editions of the Hockey World League, there will be two matches played per day, in order to extend to spectators the opportunity to witness games in the evening. Consequently, November 28th will be the only day which features four matches in a single day.
After their intial match against Argentina on November 27th, India will face off against four-time Olympic gold medallists Germany on the 28th and then play their last group match against two-time Olympic gold medallists Netherlands. Needless to say, but India will need a Herculean effort to triumph over their adversaries in the group stage. Pool ‘B’ is made up of Australia, Great Britain, Belgium and Canada.
Novermber 27th to December 1st will accomodate the pool matches while the quarterfinals will take place on December 2nd and 3rd. The semifinals are scheduled to taBke place on the 4th and 5th of December, while the third-place match and the final will take place on the 6th of December.
The Hockey World League Finals will feature eight nations who have qualified through its preceding tournaments, the Hockey World League Semifinals as well as the Hockey World League Round two qualifiers. All the eight nations in the FInals have qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2016.
This years Hockey World League Finals is the second edition of the tournament, which held its inaugral edition in 2012-13. That event was hosted in New Delhi. The Netherlands won the tournament, beating New Zealand 7-2. England beat Australia 2-1 to clinch the bronze medal. India finished sixth in the tournament.
This year’s Hockey World League Finals will be the first international hockey tournament to be hosted by Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, in the newly built Raipur International Hockey Stadium.