Today marks the start of the hockey competition in the 27th Summer Universiade in Kazan, Russia. On Day 1, the men's competition kicks off with Korea facing Ukraine, Japan taking on France, Malaysia lining up against Poland and South Africa meeting Italy.
Hockey is making only its second appearance on the programme of the Universiade, with the first dating back more than 20 years: Hockey debuted at the 1991 World University Games in Sheffield.
The hockey competition in Kazan features 14 teams from eleven countries. The ten men's teams compete in two pools, with Pool A featuring the representatives of Russia, South Africa, Malaysia, Poland and Italy, while Pool B sees Germany, Korea, Japan, France and Ukraine battle for semi-final places. In the women's competition, four teams compete in one pool: Russia, Korea, Japan and Belarus.
Pool play for men and women will take place from today until Saturday, 13 July, with the women's placement matches scheduled for Sunday, 14 July, and the men's the following day.
The Universiade is a biennial multisport event, bringing together university students from around the world. The event has enjoyed rapid growth in recent years, and the current edition in Kazan is recordbreaking: more than 13.000 athletes from more than 170 countries participate in 27 different sports.
To follow the action in Kazan, please visit the website of the 27th Summer Universiade in Kazan at http://kazan2013.ru/en.
