KARACHI: The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) on Tuesday announced the schedule for Men’s Asia Cup 2017, which will be held in Bangladesh in October this year. The 10th edition of the quadrennial event will take place at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka, returning to Bangladesh for the first time since 1985. “The tournament will take place from October 11 to 22, 2017,” the AHF said in a press release. Introduced in 1982, the inaugural Men’s Asia Cup was won by Pakistan, who also won the next two editions in 1985 and 1989. Since then, India (2003, 2007) and South Korea (1993, 1999, 2009 and 2013) have also been champions in the nine editions played so far. The tournament will witness stiff competition among the top performing teams from across Asia with big stakes at play, the biggest incentive being a direct ticket for the winning team to the World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Bhubaneswar, India from November 28 to December 16, 2018. This year, the tournament will feature hosts nation Bangladesh along with China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Oman and Pakistan. India are the top-ranked team among the competing teams at 6th position in the latest World Rankings, while Korea, the current title holders, are ranked 13th. World number 12 Malaysia, after excellent performance in the recent Hockey World League semi-final in London, and world number 14 Pakistan round up the mix of teams. Pakistan, India, Japan and Bangladesh are in Pool A, while Malaysia, Korea, China and Oman are in Pool B. Published in Daily Times, August 23rd 2017.