NEW DELHI: The 15th edition of the FIH Women's Hockey World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Spain and Netherlands, opens in the Spanish city of Terrassa on Friday (July 1).
The 16-team tournament will see the participating nations divided into four pools of four teams each, with the top team from each pool securing a place in the quarterfinals. The second and third-ranked teams from each pool will play the crossover matches to decide the remaining four quarterfinalists.
The opening match on Friday will be played between Spain and Canada. India, ranked No. 8 in the world, will begin their campaign against England on July 3 in Amsterdam.
India's best performance in the tournament so far has been a fourth-place finish in the inaugural edition of the tournament in 1974.
Here's all you need to know about the tournament:
WORLD CUP DATES: July 1 to 17
WORLD CUP HOSTS: Netherlands and Spain
WORLD CUP POOLS:
Pool A: Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Chile
Pool B: India, England, New Zealand, China
Pool C: Argentina, Spain, Korea, Canada
Pool D: Australia, Belgium, Japan, South Africa
FIXTURES:
INDIA'S POOL MATCHES & TIMINGS (IST):
July 3: India vs England, 8 pm
July 4: India vs China, 8 pm
July 7: India vs New Zealand, 11 pm
CROSSOVER MATCHES: July 9-10
CLASSIFICATION MATCHES (9th to 16th): July 10-11
CLASSIFICATION MATCHES (13th to 16th): July 12
CLASSIFICATION MATCHES (9th to 12th): July 13
QUARTERFINALS: July 12-13
SEMIFINALS: July 16
FINAL & 3rd PLACE PLAYOFF: July 17
WHERE TO WATCH: Star Sports First for Live broadcast and Disney+Hotstar for Live Streaming
INDIA SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Savita (c), Bichu Devi
Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka (vc), Gurjit Kaur, Nikki Pradhan, Udita
Midfielders: Nisha, Sushila Chanu, Monika, Neha, Jyoti, Navjot Kaur, Sonika, Salima Tete
Forwards: Vandana Katariya, Lalremsiami, Navneet Kaur, Sharmila Devi
Standbys: Akshata Abaso Dhekale, Sangita Kumari
