Hockey World Cup: India, Pakistan in same pool

New Delhi:

Arch-rivals India and Pakistan were on Tuesday clubbed in the same pool in the 2010 hockey World Cup scheduled to start in the capital from February 28.

Apart from the 1975 champions India and four-time winner Pakistan, Pool B also has Australia, Spain, England and South Africa.

Defending champion Germany is the top seed in Pool A and will meet Netherlands, Korea, New Zealand, Canada and Argentina in the group phase of the event.

India won their maiden World Cup in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, while Pakistan won the inaugural edition in Spain (1971) before winning back-to-back crown in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1978) and Mumbai (1982). The last time they won was in Sydney in 1994.

Following the preliminary phase, the best two ranked teams of each pool would proceed to the semifinals, the International Hockey Federation said in a statement on Tuesday.

The match schedule for the World Cup will be released later this month, FIH said.

Pool A: Germany, the Netherlands, Korea, New Zealand, Canada and Argentina.

Pool B: Australia, Spain, England, Pakistan, India and South Africa.