NEW DELHI: Striving to win their maiden World Cup medal, India will begin their campaign at the 2018
Women's Hockey World Cup
against hosts England on the opening day of the tournament, July 21.
ALSO READ: India bank on hope, experience to make a mark at World CupThe team led by striker
Rani Rampal and coached by
Sjoerd Marijne
left for London on Sunday. The players looked in good shape on the preparatory tour of Spain, where India drew the five-Test series against the hosts 2-2.
Besides world No. 2 England in Pool B, seventh-ranked USA is the other team that enjoys a higher rank than No. 10 India in the International Hockey Federation (
FIH
) rankings. Ireland (16th) is the fourth team in the pool.
The team finishing top in each of the four pools will directly qualify for the quarterfinals, while the teams ending up second and third will feature in the crossover games to decide the remaining four quarterfinalists.
Argentina, Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and Spain are the other 12 teams in the fray.
India's best finish at the World Cup came in the inaugural edition of the tournament way back in 1974 when they finished fourth, losing the bronze-medal match to West Germany 0-2.
Interestingly in this edition, 16 of the 18 Indian players will make their World Cup debut. Only skipper Rani and the team's senior-most member Deepika have previously played in a World Cup.
Defending champions Netherlands have won the tournament an unprecedented seven times.
Here's all you need to know:DATES: July 21 to August 5
VENUE: Lee Valley Hockey & Tennis Centre, London
NUMBER OF TEAMS: 16
POOLSPool A: China, Italy, Korea, Netherlands
Pool B: England, India, Ireland, USA
Pool C: Argentina, Germany, South Africa, Spain
Pool D: Australia, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand
INDIA SCHEDULE (IST Timings)July 21 - India vs England - 1830
July 26 - India vs Ireland - 1830
July 29 - India vs USA - 2130
CROSSOVER MATCHES (IST)July 30 - 2230 & 0045 (next day)
July 31 - 2230 & 0045 (next day)
QUARTERFINALS (IST)August 1 - 2230 & 0045 (next day)
August 2 - 2230 & 0045 (next day)
SEMIFINALS (IST)August 4 - 1830 & 2100
MEDAL MATCHES (IST)August 5
Bronze (3rd place) - 1830
Gold (Final) - 2100
WHERE TO WATCH: Star Sports & Hotstar
INDIA SQUADGoalkeepers: Savita (vice-captain), Rajani Etimarpu
Defenders: Sunita Lakra, Deep Grace Ekka, Deepika, Gurjit Kaur, Reena Khokhar
Midfielders: Namita Toppo, Lilima Minz, Monika, Neha Goyal, Navjot Kaur, Nikki Pradhan
Forwards: Rani Rampal (captain), Vandana Katariya, Navneet Kaur, Lalremsiami, Udita