The Indian men's hockey team will begin their campaign at the fifth men's Asian Champions Trophy against hosts Oman here on October 18.
The tournament will be contested between six teams including India, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, Japan and Oman.
The Indian team is ranked highest in the tournament and will be the favourites to retain their title. However, the World No. 6 team will face tough challenges from the likes of world number 12 Malaysia and world number 13 Pakistan.
Each team will play a total of five Round-Robin matches, the conclusion of which will see four teams qualify for the semi-final matches, while the remaining two teams will play each other in a qualification match for the 5th spot.
Indian chief coach Harendra Singh has shown faith in his team and said that the tournament would serve as a good preparation opportunity for the upcoming hockey men's World Cup.
"The 5th men's Asian Champions Trophy 2018 will serve as good preparation for our team to get into the rhythm before the Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018," Singh said.
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"We will be playing Round-Robin matches against some good teams which will be a good test for us. I am confident that our team will retain the prestigious title in Muscat," he added.
India will look to win their third men's Asian Champions Trophy in their fifth attempt after having defeated Pakistan in the 2011 and 2016 editions of the tournament.
After opening their campaign against the hosts, the Silver Medallists of International Hockey Federation (FIH) men's hockey Champions Trophy 2018 will be playing their second match against arch-rivals Pakistan on October 20 and the third match against Japan on the next day.
The Indian team will end the Round-Robin stage by facing Malaysia in the fourth match on October 23 and South Korea in the last match on October 24.
The 6-nation tournament is slated to be held between October 18 and 28.
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