Malaysia has been drawn in Pool A in the 10-nation Asian hockey championship for men to be held at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium from September 1 to 9. The other teams in the group are South Korea, China, Sri Lanka and Singapore.Group B will comprise of hosts India, Japan, Bangladesh, Hong Kong (China) and Thailand. Pakistan has opted out of the tournament as its undergoing a team re-building exercise.
China will be other team that will be watched keenly and could be a tough team for Malaysia to match as they made the final of the Asian Games in Doha, defeating India and Pakistan enroute to the silver. South Korea, the Asian Games gold medallist were however beaten in the recent Azlan Shah Cup by Malaysia. The significance of this event lies in the fact that the FIH has accorded it the status of a world ranking event. Malaysia is currently ranked 16 in the latest FIH rankings list while India is ranked 8 in the world.
