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The eagerly-anticipated schedule for the field hockey competition at the Asian Games has been announced. By virtue of a stupendous show in the final edition of the Champions Trophy, the Indians have deservedly climbed one rung to occupy the fifth position in the FIH World Rankings and will no doubt start as the overwhelming favorites at Jakarta.
India favorites to top tricky pool A
Defending champions India find themselves in Pool A alongside hosts Indonesia, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Japan, and South Korea. India will open their campaign against hosts Indonesia on Monday followed by a match against Hong Kong on Wednesday, but the true test for Harendra Singh's side will most likely begin on Friday when they take on Japan.
The Japanese lost tamely to a young Indian team in the opener of the Four-Nations Invitational in New Zealand earlier this year but are perfectly capable of troubling their more illustrious adversaries.
After a shaky start in the first leg of the tournament at Tauranga, the Japanese came up with a much-improved performance in the second leg at Hamilton. The Indians simply overran the Japanese in the first match winning 6-0 but were met with significantly more resistance in the second, before prevailing with a 4-2 margin.
The Japanese who are currently ranked sixteenth in the world, eventually beat ninth-ranked New Zealand via the shootouts and bagged the third place at Hamilton.
Just before the Black Sticks came to India for a Test series last month, they had toured Japan where the hosts stunned New Zealand winning their second match 7-1 after having drawn the opener 3-3.
The Indians will need to be watchful against Japan but South Korea is the one team in India's group who the Indian coaching staff will truly be wary of.
The South Korean challenge
India and Pakistan have dominated Asian hockey ever since the inaugural Asian Games which were held in Tokyo in 1958. No other side ever managed to reach the finals of the hockey competition until the 1986 edition in Seoul where the hosts stunned the world and announced their arrival as the new powerhouses of Asian hockey.
South Korea ended the hegemony of subcontinental giants India and Pakistan to win gold at home in 1986 and followed it up with 3 more triumphs in 1994, 2002, and 2006. The Koreans have slipped a wee bit in recent times but continue to pose a threat.
"The South Koreans have really good drag-flickers and can be lethal with their PC executions," observed India's Analytical Coach Chris Ciriello when he interacted with Sportskeeda earlier. "Besides, they have the capacity to score a couple of goals and then sit back and defend. The opposition then needs to find space and go through the grind of finding the net."
The Koreans were at Bangalore in early July to get a good measure of their rivals after playing practice matches against an India A side where they continued to be lethal with their drag flicks.
India and Korea are the teams most likely to make it to the lastfour stage from Pool A where they will await one of the top two teams from Pool B.
Pool B comprises Kazhakstan, Thailand, Oman, Bangladesh, alongside Malaysia and Pakistan.
Why Pakistan is more likely to top Pool B
Malaysia is ranked 12th, one slot above Pakistan in the FIH World Rankings but going by recent performances, the subcontinental giants seem to be getting better with every outing.
At the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Roelant Oltmans' side impressed, and remained unbeaten after holding traditional rivals India, and also managing to draw with England and Wales. Pakistan finally beat Canada to finish seventh.
At Breda, the Pakistanis lost the opener to India, going down by a 0-4 margin, but were very much in the match until the end of the third quarter as Chris Ciriello pointed out.
"Pakistan played well against us for three quarters and I imagine they will only get better in time for the Asian Games as it is a big tournament for them too."
Imran Butt was at his best under the crossbar and the manner in which the wily Shafqat Rasool weaved his stick was reminiscent of the old wizards of Pakistan hockey. Muhammad Rizwan Sr along with Mubashar Ali and Aleem Bilal excelled as the Pakistanis thrashed Olympic champions Argentina 4-1 in the Champions Trophy.
World Champions Australia too huffed and puffed en route to a hard-fought 2-1 win against their lower-ranked Asian rivals while the Belgians managed a win via a shootout in the classification match for the wooden spoon at Breda.
"Pakistan is getting stronger, fitter, and better, says Chris Ciriello. "They beat Argentina and the quality of the players is excellent. They are a really good team - they are a top-ten team any day. They haven't played too many international matches and were low because of that."
If Pakistan does indeed top Pool B, Sreejesh's boys will not have it any easier in the semifinal, as Malaysia has proven to be a thorn in the flesh for the Indians of late.
A young and inexperienced side led by Sardar Singh thrashed the hosts 5-1 in the Azlan Shah Cup earlier this year, but a more senior Indian side had a torrid time against the Malaysians last year.
The Indians will, no doubt. remember the events that transpired last year in the HWL Semifinal. Back then, the Indians had lost 2-3 in the quarterfinal and had also lost to the hosts 0-1 in last year's Azlan Shah Cup.
Yet, Harendra Singh's present squad seems perfectly capable of surmounting every challenge, well aware that a gold in Jakarta will propel them to a place in the 2020 Olympics.
India's Schedule in the Asian Games
August 20, 2018 - India vs Indonesia
August 22, 2018 - India vs Hong Kong China
August 24, 2018 - India vs Japan
August 26, 2018 - India vs South Korea
August 28, 2018: India vs Sri Lanka
