(Photo: © FIH / Vino John)

The organizing committee of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games (BOCOG) and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) released the match schedule for the hockey tournament of the 2008 Olympic Games.

The first day of competition will be Sunday 10 August 2008 when the 12 women’s participating teams will enter the pitch in Beijing, China. Japan and New Zealand have the honor to open the Olympic Hockey Tournament. The 12 teams participating in the men’s tournament will start their campaign for the Gold Medal on Monday 11 August 2008. The first men’s match will be the encounter between Germany and China.

The preliminary round will come to a conclusion on Monday 18 August (women) and Tuesday 19 August (men). The women’s semifinals are scheduled on Wednesday 20 August, while the men’s semifinals will be played on Thursday 21 August. The finals will take place on Friday 22 August (women) and Saturday 23 August (men).

The pools for the 2008 Olympic Hockey Tournament are as follows:

Men's Olympic Hockey Tournament:

Pool A: Germany, Spain, Korea, New Zealand, Belgium, China.
Pool B: Australia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Great Britain, South Africa, Canada.

Women’s Olympic Hockey Tournament

Pool A: Netherlands, Australia, China, Spain, Korea, South Africa.
Pool B: Argentina, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Great Britain, USA.

Please click here for the complete match schedule.