India to take on New Zealand in Champions Challenge Opener

Lausanne, Switzerland, Feb 12 (UNI) India will open their campaign with a match against New Zealand in the six nation BDO Champions Challenge Hockey tournament to be played in Antwerp-Boom, Belgium, from June 23 to July 1.

Besides India and New Zealand, other teams taking part in the round-robin league tournament are Argentina, Belgium, England and Japan.

The BDO Champions Challenge is an important event for the participating nations, as the winner will qualify for next year's Champions Trophy.

After tournament favourite India's match against New Zealand, the other matches on the opening day are between Belgium and Japan, England and Argentina.

The teams will play a single round robin tournament with the first two ranked teams qualifying for the final on July 1.

Schedule: June 23: India v New Zealand; Belgium v Japan; England v Argentina June 24: New Zealand v Japan; Argentina v Belgium; India v England June 25: Rest Day June 26: Japan v Argentina; England v New Zealand; Belgium v India June 27: Rest Day June 28: England v Japan; Argentina v India; New Zealand v Belgium June 29: Rest Day June 30: New Zealand v Argentina; India v Japan; Belgium v England July 01: 5th v 6th; 3rd v 4th; Final UNI