Indian men’s team clubbed with Pak in Asian Games

Harmanpreet Singh. Pic/PTI

The Indian men's hockey team has been clubbed alongside arch-rivals Pakistan and will play the big-ticket match on September 30 in the Asian Games, while the women's side has South Korea and Malaysia among others in its pool.

Placed in Group ‘A', besides Pakistan, the Indian men have Asian Games champion Japan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Uzbekistan against whom they will begin their campaign on September 24, while the women' side, who are also in Pool ‘A', will be up against Hong Kong and Singapore besides South Korea and Malaysia.

The Indian women will start their campaign against Singapore on September 27.

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"We are placed along with some strong teams in our pool, including Japan, who won the Gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. But we will treat all teams at par and will not be taking any competition lightly," Harmanpreet Singh, who is currently leading the team at the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy said in a release.

"We are already getting a chance to compete with some of these nations at the Asian Champions Trophy and we will look forward to using this experience to our advantage in the future.

"Our coaches have always instilled in us that we need to be prepared for all our rivals. We will study all our opponents for the Hangzhou Asian Games, re-watch all videos to learn about their strengths and weaknesses and prepare our plans accordingly."

The Group ‘B' in men's section comprises South Korea, Malaysia, China, Oman, Thailand and Indonesia.

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