Birmingham: The Indian men’s hockey team will open its campaign at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games against minnows Ghana on July 31, while the women’s team will also face the same rivals on July 29.
Two-time silver medalist Indian men are placed in a relatively easy Pool B alongside England, Canada, Wales and Ghana, while Pool A consists of six-time champions Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Scotland.
The Indian women are in Group A, which also has England, Canada, Wales and Ghana.
After Ghana, the Indian men will play host country and bronze winner England of the previous edition on August 1, followed by games against Canada (August 3) and Wales (August 4).
After Ghana, the women will play against Wales, England (August 2) and Canada (August 3) on July 30.
The top two teams from each group in both the men’s and women’s competitions qualify for the semi-finals.
The men’s semifinals will be played on August 6 and the final on August 8.
The semi-finals and final for women will be played on August 5 and 7, respectively.
India is sending its ‘A’ teams for both men and women to the Birmingham Games due to a short lead time between CWG and the Hangzhou Asian Games, a qualifying tournament for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
The two events will take place just 32 days apart and the national federation wants to keep its first-choice players fresh for the Asian Games.
The Birmingham CWG is scheduled to run from July 28 to August 8.
Gold and silver medalists from Gold Coast 2018, Australia and New Zealand, among others, will compete in the group stages of both the men’s and women’s tournaments.
According to the hockey game schedule announced on Wednesday, both the women’s and men’s competitions will begin on July 29, with the opening session of the women’s tournament featuring reigning champions New Zealand against Kenya and South Africa against Scotland.
Host nation England will face Ghana in the first game of the men’s competition and New Zealand will face Scotland in the same session.
A total of 54 hockey matches will be played, of which 40 group matches, six classification matches, four semi-finals and four medal matches.
All these matches are played at a university.
“It will be a fantastic tournament with an impressive roster of teams, featuring all the medalists from the latest Commonwealth Games,” said Matt Kidson, Sports Director for Birmingham 2022.
Thierry Weil, CEO of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), added: “Following the announcement of the participating teams last week, the publication of the game schedule is another important milestone on the road to the upcoming Commonwealth Games.”
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