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India face Australia in Hockey World League Final opener

Hosts India will face current world champions Australia in their campaign opener of the FIH men’s Hockey World League (HWL) Final to be held in Bhubaneswars Kalinga Stadium from December 1 to 10.

According to the schedule announced by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Thursday, India are placed in a tough Pool B along side Australia, England and reigning Olympic bronze medallist Germany.

After taking on the Kookaburras on December 1, India will face England on December 2 and Germany on December 4.

European rivals Germany and England will get the event off to a flier before the India-Australia duel.

Pool A, meanwhile, consists of Olympic champions Argentina, European champions Netherlands and Olympic silver medallists Belgium and Spain.

In what is being billed as ‘Super Saturday’, December 2 is set to be a thriller with some eagerly anticipated matches scheduled.

A rerun of the 2016 Olympic gold medal match between Argentina and Belgium will get the day underway in a match that is bound to rekindle some fond memories from that special night in Rio just over a year ago.

The Pool stages will run from December 1-5 and will be followed by the quarter-finals on December 6-7.

Following the classification matches, the semi-finals will take place over the next two days before the bronze medal match and the Final on December 10.

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