The greatest historical rivalry in World Hockey involving two teams from the sub-continent will see a new chapter unfold as India and Pakistan face each other in the Pool A match of the Men’s Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Final in London on 18 June 2017.
The two teams will play at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in what has been dubbed as the ‘Super Sunday’ of the tournament. HWL, which takes place from 15 to 25 June 2017, will also act as the World Cup Qualifier
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The upcoming World League Semi Final is a much anticipated and important tournament for Team India, where they are grouped in Pool B along with Canada, Scotland, Netherlands and Pakistan. India begin their campaign against Scotland on June 15.
India’s second match will be against Canada on June 17, and the third match against Pakistan on June 18. They will then finally play World No.4 the Netherlands on June 20.
On June 9, the Indian Men’s Team will arrive in London for the much-awaited Hero World League Semifinal (Men) on the back of a good learning experience at the three nations invitational tournament held in Germany which concluded on Tuesday. Their record in the tournament was 1W, 1D, 2L.
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“We will also play two practice matches against Argentina and England. This will be a good opportunity for us to work on our challenges and focus areas of improvement identified whilst having played against Germany and Belgium. We cannot afford to miss out on goal scoring chances and we need to improve our conversion rate," observed team captain Manpreet when asked about the tournament.
He added that the team's goal would be to finish in the Top 2 in London where other high ranking teams like Argentina, Netherlands, England, Korea and Malaysia too will contest for top honours.
The game to watch out for would still be the marquee match-up between the two neighbouring countries where both teams will be hoping to qualify for the Bhubaneswar HWL final later in 2017. India is number 6 in the World Rankings, whilst Pakistan are placed in 13th position
Emotions and sentiments will be running in full flow. For the players, it’s not just about being skillful, but also about controlling their nerves.
India Squad – (Goalkeepers) Akash Chikte, Vikas Dahiya; (Defenders) Pradeep Mor, Kothajit Singh, Surender, Kumar, Rupinderpal Singh, Harmanpreet Singh; (Midfielders) Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, S K Uthappa, Satbir Singh, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh, Harjeet Singh; (Forwards) Ramandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Talwinder Singh, Mandeep Singh Akashdeep Singh.
Pakistan Squad – (Goalkeepers) Amjad Ali, Mazhar Abbas; (Defenders/Halfbacks) Nawaz Ashfaq, Aleem Bilal, Abubakr Mahmood, Mohammad Rizwan Jr, Atif Mushtaq, Tasawwar Abbas, Ammad Shakeel Butt; (Forwards) Umar Bhutta, M.Irfan Jr, Arslan Qadir, Ali Shan, Mohammad Dilber, Ejaz Ahmed, Abdul Haseem Khan, Azfar Yaqoob, Umair Sarfraz.
Live Coverage
The live hockey match between India and Pakistan is scheduled for 6:30 pm IST. The FIH World League Semi-Final London 2017 will be broadcasted on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 1HD Hindi.
