India and Pakistan will battle it out in two different sports, over two days, across two continents in the Kabaddi Masters, Dubai, and Rabobank Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy in the Netherlands.
India and Pakistan are all set to renew their rivalries in the Kabaddi Masters competition in Dubai on Friday night and at the Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy in Breda, Netherlands, on Saturday evening. There can be no better curtain raiser for an international sports event than the opening match between the arch-foes and traditional rivals India and Pakistan.
Indian fans can catch all the action live from the Al Wasl Sports Club in Dubai and Bred, Netherlands, on Star Sports. Star Sports 2 and Star Sports 2 HD and Hotstar will be the screens for the Kabaddi Masters Dubai.
The Rabobank Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy will be broadcast live on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD and Hotstar.
The India-Pakistan kabaddi encounter is slated for 9 PM India time today (Friday) at 8 PM India time.
Pro Kabaddi League has given the sport an international recognition over the last few years. League has been a grand commercial success with players getting crore-rupee annual contracts and the league thriving on multi-crore rupee sponsorship deals, big broadcast budgets and strategies. India’s rural sports is now headed for its global glory with the first edition of six-nation kabaddi masters at Dubai’s Al Wasl Sports Club.
India will take on Pakistan in their first Group A encounter. Kenya is the other team in the group. The Group B consists of Iran, Republic of Korea and Argentina.
In hockey, the most intense Indo-Pak rivalry in hockey goes a long way.
The fine heritage of the Champions Trophy is reflected in the opening match of the 2018 competition, which features one of the biggest rivalries in the sport – 13th ranked Pakistan and sixth-ranked India.
With some solid ground work after two back-to-back national training camps at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru Campus, the Indian Men’s Hockey Team will go into their first match at the Rabobank Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy Breda 2018 on Saturday, 23 June 2018, feeling upbeat, confident and well-prepared.
Taking on arch-rivals Pakistan, ranked No.13 in the world, India are ranked much higher at World No. 6. They should have no qualms in overcoming the challenge albeit they keep their emotions in check and stick to the game plan. Chief Coach Harendra Singh put things in perspective. “Getting off to a winning start is vital because it sets the momentum for the rest of the tournament. There will be no room for emotions when we take on Pakistan. The team will play against them like any other team where we go for the three points. We have prepared well for this tournament and are confident of a good performance. Our focus will be on playing to the structure and executing our strategies against each opponent without making any errors,” Indian coach has asserted.
Over the past year, India had enjoyed convincing victories over their nemesis right from the Asian Champions Trophy in 2016 when they had beaten Pakistan in the Final. This performance was followed by a dominant double victory against Pakistan in the Hockey World League Semi Final in London 2017 and the Asia Cup in Dhaka where India lifted the title after 10 years. But at the recent Gold Coast 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games, the unpredictable Pakistan with most of their senior players back in the fold scored an equalizer through a PC in the 60th minute through Mubashar Ali to split the points. Incidentally, it was the first match of the tournament and PCs will be Pakistan’s preferred weapon yet again when they take on India on Saturday, 23 June 2018, at the BH & BC Stadium in Breda.
“There is no doubt we need to be smart in our defence, not allow easy penetration into the striking circle. We must avoid conceding PCs against Pakistan or Argentina who we play in the second match,” stated Harendra categorically.
The high octane Champions Trophy opener is scheduled to start at 5.30 pm India time on Saturday. Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD 1 & Hotstar will broadcast all the Champions Trophy games live.
Six of the world’s finest teams – including five of the top six placed teams in the FIH Hero World Rankings – will be fighting it out for the title,
India-Pakistan Rivalry LIVE: Two sports, two battles on Star Sports
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