The group fixtures of the FIH Hockey World Cup are out. India’s women’s hockey team has been placed in Pool D joining England, China, and South Africa.
The team will play three games against each of the group teams at the same venue. The fixture starts with China scheduled on August 16, followed by the remaining two to be held on August 18 and 20 against South Africa and England respectively.
Earlier in the World Cup Qualifiers in Hyderabad, the Sjoerd Marijne-led Indian team had lost the finals match to England by 0-2.
As for the format, the women’s tournament will begin with group stage matches, which features 16 teams in total that have been divided into pools of four each. Only the top two teams from each group will advance into the second round while the bottom two will move in the classification groups.
The top two teams from A and D will form Pool E in the second round, while the top two teams from B and C will form pool F. The bottom two from each group will be placed in groups G and H and will remain out of medal contention.
From the group stage, the teams with their results will move ahead to the second round. There, each team will play just two games.
The top two teams from pools E and F will then advance to the semifinals, while the third-placed teams in pool will face each other for the seventh place. Pools G and H, will have the teams competing for the ninth to 16th places.
FIH Women’s World Cup Pools:
Pool A: Netherlands, Australia, Chile, Japan (playing in the Netherlands)
Pool B: Argentina, Germany, USA, Scotland (playing in Belgium)
Pool C: Belgium, Spain, New Zealand, Ireland (playing in Belgium)
Pool D: China, England, India, South Africa (playing in the Netherlands)
