Indian hockey Tokyo Olympics full schedule, match timings

Indian men's hockey team will face New Zealand in its first match, while the women will open against world champion Netherlands at the Tokyo Olympics.

The Indian women's hockey team booked its berth in the Tokyo Olympics by defeating USA in November.

Indian men’s hockey team will open its campaign against New Zealand at the Tokyo Olympics on July 24 next year while women’s side will be up against mighty Netherlands in its first match on the same day.

Eight-time men's champion India have been clubbed along side Australia, Argentina, Spain, New Zealand and hosts Japan in a tough Pool A, while Pool B consists of Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Canada and South Africa.

The Tokyo Olympics was originally scheduled to be held in 2020 but has been postponed by a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Indian men’s team, which won its last of the eight Olympic golds in 1980 Moscow, will next face Australia on July 25, followed by matches against Spain (July 27), reigning Olympic champion Argentina (July 29) and Japan (July 30).

In the women’s competition, India is placed in Pool A along side Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and South Africa, while Pool B is made up of Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Spain, China and Japan.

After its Games opener against Netherlands on July 24, the Indian women’s team will play Germany (July 26), Great Britain (July 28), Argentina (July 29) and Japan (July 30).

The hockey event was originally scheduled to run from July 25 until August 7 August 2020, with matches being played at the Oi Hockey Stadium in Japan’s capital city.

Besides the revised schedule announced by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Friday, nothing has changed in terms of the location and overall running order of the matches.

In line with what was planned for this year, the opening match of next year’s Olympic Games will be contested between the men teams of Japan and Australia, while the opening match of the women's tournament will be played on the same day, with reigning world champion and current world number one the Netherlands taking on India.

The top four sides from the two pools in both men and women’s competition will qualify for the quarterfinals.

The men’s quarterfinals, semifinals and final are scheduled for August 1, 3 and 5 respectively, while the knock-out matches of the women’s competition will be played on August 2, 4 and 6.