India to open Hockey World League Final campaign against Argentina

Lausanne, Sep 24: Hosts India will play Argentina in the opening match of the Hockey World League Final (HWL)to be held in Raipur from November 27 to December 6 this year.

According to the schedule of the tournament, which was confirmed by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Wednesday, besides the Pool B match between India and Argentina, the opening day will also witness the high-profile clash between defending champions Netherlands and Olympic champions Germany.

This year’ HWL Final schedule will see a slight change to previous editions, whereby two matches per day will be showcased to maximise the opportunity for spectators to attend games in the evenings. As a result, only one day, November 28, will stage four matches in one day.

After locking horns against Argentina, India will play Germany on November 28 followed by their last pool match against Netherlands on November 30.

The pool matches will take place from November 27 until December 1 followed by the quarter-finals which will be held on December 2 and 3.

The semi-finals will take place on December 4 and 5, while the bronze medal game and the final will be played December 6.

India are placed in a tough Pool B alongside Argentina (6), Netherlands (2) and Germany (3), while Pool A consists of Australia (1), Belgium (4), Great Britain (5) and Canada (13).

This will be the first international hockey event to be staged not only in the newly built Raipur International Hockey Stadium, but also in the city of Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh.