FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup: India to Begin Title Defence vs France
The top sides from the four preliminary groups at the FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup will progress into the semifinals on December 3, followed by the summit clash two days later.
India will open their FIH Junior Men’s Hockey World Cup campaign against France at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on November 24. The fixtures for the tournament was announced by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Wednesday.
The hosts and defending champions are placed in Pool B, a relatively easy preliminary group where they will face off against Canada, France and Poland. Pool A has Belgium, Chile, Malaysia and South Africa; Pool C consists of Korea, Netherlands, Spain and the United States. Argentina, Egypt, Germany and Pakistan are placed in Pool D of the November 24 to December 5.
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Besides the India-France game, the open day will feature matches from all four groups -- Belgium-South Africa, Malaysia-Chile, Germany-Pakistan and Canada-Poland matches.
India begin their campaign with back-to-back matches. They will take on Canada on November 25, followed by their final group match against Poland on November 27.
The top sides from each group will progress into the semifinals which will be played on December 3, followed by the summit clash two days later.
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Poland has come in as a replacement team for England who withdrew from the tournament due to travel issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The FIH also released the pools and match schedules of the Women's Junior World Cup to be played in Potchefstroom, South Africa, from December 5 to 16. The Indian team is placed in Pool C in this event alongside title holders Argentina, Japan and Russia.
The Indians will open their campaign against Russia on December 6, followed by matches against Argentina (December 7) and Japan (December 9).
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