India face Germany in World Cup opener

Monchengladbach, Germany, Sep 5 (UNI) India will open their campaign by taking on defending champion Germany in their bid to end the 31-year-long medal drought in the 11th hockey World Cup at Warsteiner Park here tomorrow.

The Indians are in the Pool B along with Germany, England, Korea, Netherlands and South Africa.

The Dilip Tirkey-led side will be up against the English in their second group match on September 7 before taking the day off on September 8.

They will return to the field on September 9 against the South Africans before getting another rest day on September 10 followed by their last two group matches against Korea and Netherlands on September 11 and 12.

The league matches will be played until September 13 before the tournament enters the knockout stage. The semifinals of the event will be played on September 15 followed by the final scheduled on September 17.

Following is the schedule of the 11th Hockey World Cup: September 6: Pool B: Germany vs India (1200 hrs IST) Pool A: Argentina vs New Zealand (1500 hrs IST) Pool B: Korea vs Netherlands (1700 hrs IST) September 7: Pool B: India vs England (1030 hrs IST) Pool A: Pakistan vs Japan (1230 hrs IST) Pool A: Australia vs Spain (1430 hrs IST) Pool B: Netherlands vs South Africa (1645 hrs IST) September 8: Pool A: New Zealand vs Pakistan (1330 hrs IST) pool B: England vs Korea (1430 hrs IST ) Pool A: Spain vs Argentina (1645 hrs IST) September 9: Pool B: South Africa vs India (0930 hrs IST) Pool B: Germany vs Netherlands (1145 hrs IST) Pool A: Japan vs New Zealand (1400 hrs IST) pool A: Argentina vs Australia (1600 hrs IST) September 10: Pool A: Pakistan vs Spain (0930 hrs IST) Pool B: England vs Germany (1115 hrs IST) Pool B: Korea vs South Africa (1330 hrs IST) Pool A: Australia vs Japan (1530 hrs IST) More UNI HSB PM DS1240