India is fixed to host the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup from November 28 to December 10 in Chennai and Madurai. The host country has been assigned to Pool B, which includes Pakistan, Chile, and Switzerland.
The tournament’s draw ceremony took place at the FIH headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, marking the first time that 24 teams will participate. Pool A includes Germany, South Africa, Canada, and Ireland, whereas Pool C will showcase Argentina, New Zealand, Japan, and China.
Spain, Belgium, Egypt, and Namibia are placed in Pool D, whereas the Netherlands, Malaysia, England, and Austria are assigned to Pool E. Pool F will include France, Australia, Korea, and Bangladesh.
The President of the International Hockey Federation Tayyab Ikram attended in the draw ceremony along with Bhola Nath Singh, the secretary general of Hockey India, and RK Srivastava, the Director General of Hockey India.
“It is a great pleasure for me to be here ahead of a milestone moment as we start the journey towards the first ever 24 team FIH Junior Hockey World Cup! It is a part of the FIH strategy to empower and engage the youth from all nations, including the emerging nations, and this event will be the first step towards doing that, “FIH chief Ikram said in a statement. “This World Cup also brings with it the opportunity to enhance a new state-of-art hockey stadium. I would also like to thank the Non’ble Indian Prime Minister Shre Narendra Modi and Sports Minister of India Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya for seeing Hockey as a prime sport and supporting it not only in India, but also across Asia and globally.”