From correspondents in Andhra Pradesh, India, 09:03 PM IST

India will face Japan on the first day of the junior Asia Cup hockey championship, starting here Friday, but the hosts were clueless about the timing of the match till late Thursday afternoon.

Four matches are scheduled for the opening day of the eight-nation tournament and India's match is the last one at 5.30 pm.

'I think we are playing Japan but I can't say the exact timing of our match because the schedule has not been given to us,' coach A.K. Bansal said Thursday morning.

The draw had to revised after China and Thailand pulled out.

The new schedule was sent to the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) for approval. The AHF in turn has sent it to International Hockey Federation (FIH) for clearance, thus creating the delay in finalising the schedule.

It was only in the afternoon that the media were handed out the schedule by the organisers.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)