India will begin their campaign 13th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament, from January 8-18, 2004, with a match against Germany.

The 13th edition of the tournament will feature seven top flight teams in world hockey.

World champions Germany, who finished second last year, are the top draw. The other top teams are defending champions Pakistan, India, Australia and South Korea.

Three teams, Germany, Australia and South Korea, have already booked berths to the Athens Olympics next year. The other four teams will play in the qualifying tournament, which will be held in Madrid Spain in March.

Thus, for varying reasons the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil will prove crucial for all the teams.

India had pulled out of the last edition after the government denied it permission to make the trip, due to the harassment of Indian IT professionals in Malaysia.

Except for Spain and Malaysia all the other teams have won the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup before. India won the event thrice (1995, 1991 and 1985). Pakistan also has won it thrice (1999, 2000 and 2003), while Germany (1987 and 2001) and Australia (1983 and 1998) won twice. England (1994) and Korea (1996) won once.

Fixtures:

Day/Date	No	Time	Match
Thursday 08 Jan 2004	1	16h05	Korea vs Pakistan
	2	18h05	India vs Germany
	3	20h05	Malaysia vs Spain
Friday 09 Jan 2004	4	16h05	Pakistan vs India
	5	18h05	Spain vs Australia
	6	20h05	Germany vs Malaysia
Saturday 10 Jan 2004	7	18h05	Australia vs Korea
Sunday 11 Jan 2004	8	16h05	Korea vs Germany
	9	18h05	Malaysia vs India
	10	20h05	Pakistan vs Spain
Monday 12 Jan 2004	11	18h05	Malaysia vs Australia
	12	20h05	Pakistan vs Germany
Tuesday 13 Jan 2004	13	18h05	Korea vs Spain
	14	20h05	India vs Australia
Wednesday 14 Jan 2004	15	16h05	Spain vs Germany
	16	18h05	Pakistan vs Malaysia
	17	20h05	India vs Korea
Thursday 15 Jan 2004	18	18h05	Australia vs Pakistan
Friday 16 Jan 2004	19	16h05	Spain vs India
	20	18h05	Germany vs Australia
	21	20h05	Malaysia vs Korea
Saturday 17 Jan 2004	Rest Day
Sunday 18 Jan 2004	22	08h05	5-6th Classification Match
	23	15h35	3-4th Classification Match
	24	18h05	Final

Roll of Honour:

Year	Venue	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Fourth
1983	Kuala Lumpur	Australia	Pakistan	India	Malaysia
1985	Ipoh	India	Malaysia	Pakistan	Spain
1987	Ipoh	Germany	Pakistan	Britain	Malaysia
1991	Ipoh	India	Pakistan	U.S.S.R	New Zealand
1994	Penang	England	Pakistan	Australia	Malaysia
1995	Kuala Lumpur	India	Germany	New Zealand	Canada
1996	Ipoh	Korea	Australia	Malaysia	Britain
1998	Ipoh	Australia	Germany	Korea	New Zealand
1999	Kuala Lumpur	Pakistan	Korea	Germany	Canada
2000	Kuala Lumpur	Pakistan	Korea	India	Malaysia
2001	Kuala Lumpur	Germany	Korea	Australia	Pakistan
2003	Ipoh	Pakistan	Germany	New Zealand	Korea