Super 4s from today
After a one-day rest, the battle of Super 4s of Hero Asia Cup gets underway today at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium, with Malaysia taking on Pakistan in the day's first match before India square off against holders South Korea.
The four Super 4s teams will play in round-robin format over the next three days and the top two finishers will play the final while the bottom two teams will play the third-position deciding match.
India are considered the favourites to life the Asia Cup title as the two-time champions are through to the last four with three convincing wins over Japan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. They are now up against four-time champions South Korea, who are however going through a bad patch and had to wait for their Super 4s berth till the last match against China.
South Korea, who finished behind Malaysia in Pool B, will definitely try to put on a spirited performance against India in a bid to winning their third consecutive title and the tie is expected to be a mouth watering affair.
Meanwhile, Malaysia, the second-ranked side, are considered better than three-time champions Pakistan considering the former's all-win record in group-stages and their recent performances in the Hockey World League semifinals.
In the day's third match, Japan and Oman will take part in a 5th-8th position deciding match.
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