The match schedule for the men’s BDO Hockey World Cup qualifier has been released.

The qualifier will be played in Changzhou, China, from 12-23 April, with 12 teams competing for the remaining five places at the BDO Hockey World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany, later this year.

Teams have been split into two Pools of six based on the Sahara WorldHockey Team Rankings, with Pakistan and New Zealand the top seeds in their respective groups. Each team will play the others in their Pool once before the classification and playoff matches. The top five teams will earn a spot at the 11th staging of the men’s World Cup.

All teams will participate on the opening day of the tournament, before the Pools alternate match days until the end of the preliminary rounds.

The top two teams in each Pool at the completion of the round robin phase will earn a spot at the World Cup, with the remaining berth to be decided in the fifth place playoff on the final day.

Courtesy of their number five world ranking, Pakistan are the top seeds for the tournament and have been drawn to play against Belgium, Canada, Egypt, England and Ireland in Pool A.

Pakistan are the clear favourites to emerge from Pool A, and, based on their current world rankings, England, Egypt and Belgium are likely to vie for second position in the group.

Pool B contains a strong line-up of teams including Korea, New Zealand and Malaysia, along with China, France and Japan.

This Pool appears to be one that could produce a number surprises, with emerging nation France combining with the favoured teams to form a highly competitive group.

Pool A: Belgium, Canada, Egypt, England, Ireland, Pakistan
Pool B: China, France, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand

The BDO Hockey World Cup will be played in Monchengladbach, Germany, from 6-17 September this year. Seven teams have already confirmed their participation – Argentina, Australia, Germany, India, Netherlands, South Africa and Spain.