India meet Japan first in men's hockey World Cup

India will meet Japan in their opening match of the men's senior 2002 World Cup hockey tournament on February 24.

The 1975 champions are drawn in Pool B along with 1986 champions Australia, first-time qualifiers Cuba, hosts Malaysia, Japan, England, Poland and Sydney Olympic silver medallists South Korea for the February 24 to March 9 tournament at the National Hockey stadium, in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur.

The fixtures for next year's tournament were unveiled on Monday by His Royal Highness Sultan Azlan Shah, World Cup organising committee chairman and president of the Malaysian Hockey Federation.

In the opening match of the tournament, Cuba take on Olympic silver medallists Korea. In the other five matches scheduled for the day, England line-up against Poland, the Pakistanis square up against South Africa, Utrecht '98 runners-up Spain meet Belgium, European champions Germany face off against the Argentines, and India play Japan in an all-Asian encounter.

The tournament, for the first time, has an enlarged field of 16 nations divided into two pools of eight teams. A total of 72 matches will be played over 13 days. The final is on March 9.

Under the 2 x 8 format, each team plays seven pool matches, followed by crossover classification play-offs before the final classification matches.

The top two teams in each pool qualify for the semi-finals while the 3rd and 4th fight for the 5th - 8th places, the 5th and 6th for the 9th - 12th places, and the last two teams battle for the 13th - 16th places.

India, eight-time Olympic champions and recent Junior World Cup winners, are ranked 14th behind seventh-ranked Cuba.

"Cuba are ranked higher than India because they are the South American champions while India finished fourth in the qualifiers in Scotland," International Hockey Federation communications manager Steven Morris said.

Pool A

Argentina
Belgium
Germany
Netherlands
New Zealand
Pakistan
South Africa
Spain

Pool B

Australia
Cuba
England
India
Japan
Korea
Malaysia
Poland

The fixtures:

Sun, Feb 24
8.15am Cuba vs Korea
8.35am England vs Poland
4.05pm Pakistan vs South Africa
4.35pm Belgium vs Spain
6.05pm Germany vs Argentina
6.35pm Netherlands vs New Zealand
8.05pm Japan vs India
8.35pm Malaysia vs Australia

Mon, Feb 25
4.05pm Pakistan vs Belgium
6.05pm South Africa vs Germany
6.35pm New Zealand vs Spain
8.05pm Netherlands vs Argentina

Tues, Feb 26
4.05pm Korea vs India
6.05pm Japan vs Malaysia
6.35pm Australia vs England
8.05pm Poland vs Cuba

Wed, Feb 27
8.05am Belgium vs Netherlands
8.35am Argentina vs South Africa
4.05pm Germany vs Spain
4.35pm Malaysia vs India
6.05pm Poland vs Australia
6.35pm Pakistan vs New Zealand
8.05pm England vs Cuba
8.35pm Korea vs Japan

Thur, Feb 28
4.05pm Spain vs Netherlands
6.05pm South Africa vs New Zealand
6.35pm Argentina vs Pakistan
8.05pm Belgium vs Germany

Fri, Mar 1
4.05pm Australia vs Cuba
5.35pm Poland vs Japan
6.05pm England vs India
8.05pm Malaysia vs Korea

Sat, Mar 2
8.05am Germany vs New Zealand
8.35am Spain vs South Africa
4.05pm Japan vs Australia
4.35pm Belgium vs Argentina
6.05pm Cuba vs India
6.35pm Korea vs Poland
8.05pm Pakistan vs Netherlands
8.35pm England vs Malaysia

Sun, Mar 3
4.05pm Argentina vs New Zealand
6.05pm Spain vs Pakistan
6.35pm South Africa vs Belgium
8.05pm Netherlands vs Germany

Mon, Mar 4
4.05pm England vs Japan
6.05pm Malaysia vs Cuba
6.35pm Poland vs India
8.05pm Australia vs Korea

Tues, Mar 5
8.05am Belgium vs New Zealand
8.35am Pakistan vs Germany
4.05pm South Africa vs Netherlands
4.35pm Cuba vs Japan
6.05pm England vs Korea
6.35pm Australia vs India
8.05pm Argentina vs Spain
8.35pm Poland vs Malaysia

Wed, Mar 6 REST DAY

Thur, Mar 7
8.05am 13 - 16th: 7 Pool A vs 8 Pool B
8.35pm 13 - 16th: 7 Pool B vs 8 Pool A
4.05pm 9 - 12th: 5 Pool A vs 6 Pool B
4.35pm 9 - 12th: 5 Pool B vs 6 Pool A
6.35pm 5 - 8th: 3 Pool A vs 4 Pool B
7.05pm 1 - 4th: 1 Pool A vs 2 Pool B
9.05pm 5 - 8th: 3 Pool B vs 4 Pool A
9.35pm 1 - 4th: 1 Pool B vs 2 Pool A

Fri, Mar 8
8.05am 15 & 16th Loser MN 57 vs Loser MN 58
8.35am 13 & 14th Winner MN 57 vs Winner MN 58
5.05pm 11 & 12th Loser MN 59 vs Loser MN 60
5.35pm 7 & 8th Loser MN 61 vs Loser MN 63
7.35pm 9 & 10th Winner MN 59 vs Winner MN 60
8.05pm 5 & 6th Winner MN 61 vs Winner MN 63

Sat, Mar 9
5.35pm 3 & 4th Loser MN 62 vs Loser MN 64
8.05pm FINAL Winner MN 62 vs Winner MN 64