Form, history, facts: India vs Pakistan – Asian Champions Trophy hockey

Al Jazeera’s lowdown on the sport, the tournament and the upcoming clash between the South Asian hockey powerhouses and bitter rivals.

Who: India vs Pakistan
What: Men’s Asian Champions Trophy round-robin match
When: Saturday, September 14, 3:45pm (07:45 GMT)
Where: Moqi Hockey Training Base, Hulunbuir, China
How to follow: Al Jazeera’s live text coverage begins at 05:00 GMT

South Asian sports fans can expect a mouthwatering contest on Saturday between India and Pakistan. The contest, though, will play out on the blue artificial pitch of a hockey ground and not the grassy green cricket venues that are synonymous with India-Pakistan encounters.

Three months after their matchat the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T20 World Cup in New York, the neighbours will renew their rivalry in Hulunbuir – a northeastern Chinese city in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region – during the round-robin stage of the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Men’s Asian Champions Trophy.

Here’s everything you need to know about the sport, the tournament and the upcoming match:

You bet. Simply put, the two South Asian sides ruled the world of hockey until the early 1990s. Up until the 1947 partition, which led to the creation of Pakistan, the then-Indian team included players from both sides of the border that now divides them and won gold at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympic Games.

Between them, India and Pakistan share 11 Olympic gold medals, five world titles, three FIH Champions Trophy titles and dozens of hockey legends.

It’s worth mentioning that hockey – not cricket – is the national sport of both India and Pakistan.

Olympic gold medals

World Cups

Champions Trophy

Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

Asia Cup

Asian Champions Trophy

Asian Games