Pakistan in easy group of Asiad hockey

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan hockey team has been placed in comparatively easier group in the 18th edition of the Asian Games 2018 starting in Jakarta-Palembang (Indonesia) from August 18.

Pakistan and Malaysia has been placed in Group B with minnows-Bangladesh, Oman, Thailand and Indonesia completing the pool.Group A includes India, Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka and Hong Kong China.

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.As many as 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, Indonesia.

The hockey event will commence on the 19th of August with the women’s fixtures followed by the men’s fixtures on the 20th of August. After 25 men’s and 20 women’s matches, the classification stage will begin on the 29th of August. Women’s final is scheduled to be played on the 31st of August, while the men’s final will be played on the 1st of September. 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.