New Delhi [India], April 15 : Team India has been drawn into Pool A along with arch-rivals Pakistan for the upcoming Men's Hockey Junior Asia Cup, which will be held from May 23 to June 1 in Salalah, Oman.
Asian Hockey Federation also announced the Women's Hockey Junior Asia Cup, which will be held from June 2 to 11 in Kakamigahara, Japan, as per Olympics.com.
A total of 10 nations will be taking part in the men's tournament. Besides India, teams featuring at the event are Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Pakistan, Thailand and Uzbekistan.
India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea and Malaysia, the top five teams, earned direct qualification on basis of their world rankings. Bangladesh, Oman, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei qualified through the Men's Junior AHF Cup, which was held in Muscat in January.
The teams earning the top-three finish will earn qualification for the FIH Men's Junior Hockey World Cup 2023, which will be held from December 5 to December 16 in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia has qualified automatically as host.
India and Pakistan along with Japan, Thailand, and Chinese Taipei are part of Pool A. The Pool B will feature South Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan.
India has reached the finals of the tournament five times. They have three titles to their name (2004, 2008, 2015) and have finished as runners-up twice (1996, 2000).
Men's Junior Asia Cup 2023 groups
Pool A: India, Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, and Chinese Taipei
Pool B: South Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Bangladesh, and Uzbekistan
The Women's Junior Asia Cup will also feature 10 teams. India is placed in Pool A along with Chinese Taipei, Korea, Malaysia and Uzbekistan. China, Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Japan and Kazakhstan are a part of Pool B.
The top five teams, India, China, Korea, Japan and Malaysia clinched direct qualification on account of their world rankings. On the other hand, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong China, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan and Indonesia played the Women's Junior AHF Cup held in Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan in October 2022 to earn their qualification.
The top three teams from the competition will qualify for the 2023 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, which is scheduled to take place from December 6 to 17 in Santiago, Chile.
India's best finish in this tournament came in 2012, when they finished as runners-up.
Women's Junior Asia Cup 2023 groups
Pool A: India, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Malaysia and Uzbekistan
Pool B: China, Hong Kong China, Indonesia, Japan and Kazakhstan.
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