LAHORE: The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) on Monday announced the schedule of the field hockey tournament of the Asian Games 2018 to be held in Jakarta-Palembang in August-September. Pakistan, who are in Pool B, will face Thailand in their opening match on August 20. The 18th edition of the Asiad will see the highest ever number of participating teams in the history of hockey competitions at the Asian Games. 21 teams from 14 countries will go head to head in the men’s and women’s categories in 60 matches over a course of 14 days. The winners of the men and women’s categories will book their place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. All matches will be played in the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Sports Complex in Jakarta, Indonesia. 11 men’s teams have been split into two groups, based on FIH World Rankings. In Pool A, Asian champions India lead the group along with South Korea (14), Japan (16), Sri Lanka (38), and Hong Kong China (45). In Pool B, Malaysia (12), Pakistan (13), Bangladesh, Oman, Thailand, and Indonesia will go head to head to secure top positions. In the women’s category, 10 teams will face-off to achieve Asian dominance and a place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Pool A will see clashes between China, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong China, and Chinese Taipei, while India, Korea, Thailand, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia will compete in Pool B. The hockey event will commence on August 19 with the women’s fixtures followed by the men’s fixtures on August 20. After 25 men’s and 20 women’s matches, the classification stage will begin on August 29. The women’s final is scheduled to be played on August 31, while the men’s final will be played on September 1. This edition of the Asian Games will be the first Asiad to have video referral system for all matches of the mega event. The video referral system has become a permanent feature in the sport and has been an essential tool for technical officials to make crucial decisions, which has contributed towards sports fairness. Shahbaz believes Pakistan will shine at Asiad: Meanwhile, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is optimistic that national squad will emerge victorious in the upcoming Asian Games. PHF secretary general Shahbaz Ahmed said Monday that after showing satisfactory performance in recently concluded last edition of the Champions Trophy, the moral of national team was high. “During The Champions Trophy, we defeated Olympic champions Argentina 4-1 in Breda, whereas, we also played brilliantly against other strong teams,” he said and added special focus had been put on team to get good results at the Asiad. “Our main target is to play the final and win it,” the former captain said and added India would be the team to beat for Pakistan. Pools Pool A: India, South Korea, Japan, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong China Pool B: Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Oman, Thailand, Indonesia SCHEDULE (PST) Monday, 20 August 2018: 10:00 am: South Korea vs Hong Kong China 12:00 pm: Japan vs Sri Lanka 14:00 pm: Bangladesh vs Oman 16:00 pm: Pakistan vs Thailand 18:00 pm: Malaysia vs Indonesia Wednesday, 22 August 2018: 10:00 am: Malaysia vs Thailand 12:00 pm: Pakistan vs Oman 14:00 pm: South Korea vs Sri Lanka 16:00 pm: India vs Hong Kong China 18:00 pm: Indonesia vs Bangladesh Friday, 24 August 2018: 10:00 am: Oman vs Thailand 12:00 pm: Bangladesh vs Malaysia 14:00 pm: Japan vs India 16:00 pm: Indonesia vs Pakistan 18:00 pm: Sri Lanka vs Hong Kong China Sunday, 26 August 2018: 10:00 am: Hong Kong China vs Japan 12:00 pm: Thailand vs Bangladesh 14:00 pm: South Korea vs India 16:00 pm: Pakistan vs Malaysia 18:00 pm: Oman vs Indonesia Tuesday, 28 August 2018: 10:00 am: Bangladesh vs Pakistan 12:00 pm: India vs Sri Lanka 14:00 pm: Malaysia vs Oman 16:00 pm: Japan vs South Korea 18:00: Thailand vs Indonesia Thursday, 30 August 2018 10:30 am: 9/11th 5th Pool A vs 6th Pool B 13:00 pm: 7/8th 4th Pool A vs 4th Pool B 15:30 pm: Semifinal 1 1st Pool A vs 2nd Pool B 18:00 pm: Semifinal 2 1st Pool B vs 2nd Pool A Saturday, 1 September 2018 10:30 am: 9/10th Winner M26 vs 5th Pool B 13:00 pm: 5/6th 3rd Pool A vs 3rd Pool B 15:30 pm: 3/4th Loser SF1 vs SF2 18:00 pm: Final Winner SF1 vs Winner SF2. Published in Daily Times, July 17th 2018.