India, Pak clash to open last edition

India and Pakistan face off in a high- profile opening match of the men’s Champions Trophy hockey tournament in Breda, the Netherlands, on June 23.

Besides the IndiaPakistan tie, there will be two more games on the first day of the event to be held from June 23 to July 1, the International Hockey Federation announced on Thursday.

The opening match will be followed hosts and European champions the Netherlands taking in 2016 Olympic gold medallists Argentina.

Reigning World Cup winners Australia face Rio Olympic silver medallists Belgium in the third game of the opening day.

India’s second match is against Argentina on June 24 followed by Australia ( June 27) and Belgium ( June 28).

The Netherlands, Argentina and Australia have automatically qualified for the event while the other three nations were invited by the FIH.

The Breda edition will be the last ever men’s edition of the event, with Pakistan being hosts of the tournament’s inaugural edition in 1978.

The final of the nineday competition will be played on July 1 after the completion of the other classification matches.

The tournament is being seen as a warm- up tournament ahead of the World Cup in Bhubaneswar from November 28 to December 16.