Pakistan To Take On Thailand In Its Opening Match Of Asian Games

Pakistan to take on Thailand in its opening match of Asian Games

Former Asian Games champions, Pakistan will open its campaign in the Asian Games hockey event by taking on little known Thailand on August 20 at Jakarta.

LAHORE, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 16th Jul, 2018 ) :Former Asian Games champions, Pakistan will open its campaign in the Asian Games hockey event by taking on little known Thailand on August 20 at Jakarta.

Eleven Men's teams have been split into two groups, based on FIH World Rankings. In Pool A, the Asian Champions, India lead the group along with South Korea (WR: 14), Japan (WR: 16), Sri Lanka (WR: 38), and Hong Kong China (WR: 45). In Pool B, Malaysia (WR: 12), Pakistan (WR: 13), Bangladesh, Oman, Thailand, and Indonesia, will go head to head to secure top positions, said the information made available to APP here by the Asian Hockey Federation.

Pakistan will take on Oman in its second outing on August 22, Indonesia on August 24,Malaysia on August 26, Bangladesh on August 28. The classification matches and semi finals will be played on August 29 and 30 followed by the final on September 1.

The 18th edition of the Asian Games will see the highest ever number of participating teams in the history of Hockey Competitions at the Asian Games. 21 Teams from 14 countries will go head to head in the Men's and Women's categories in 60 matches over a course of 14 days.

The winners of the Men's and Women's categories will book their place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. All matches will be played in the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Sports Complex, Jakarta.

In the Women's Category, 10 teams will face-off to achieve Asian dominance and a place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Pool A will see clashes between China, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong China, and Chinese Taipei, while India, Korea, Thailand, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia will compete in Pool B.

The hockey event will commence on August 19 with the Women's fixtures followed by the Men's Fixtures on August 20 . After 25 Men's and 20 Women's matches, the classification stage will begin on August 29. Women's final is scheduled to be played on August 31.

This edition of the Asian Games will be the first Asian Games to have Video Referral system for all matches of the Event. The Video Referral system has become a permanent feature in the sport and has been an essential tool for technical officials to make crucial decisions, which has contributed towards sports fairness.