England have avoided reigning Commonwealth Games champions Australia and the other Melbourne 2006 medallists in the pool stage of both the men’s and women’s hockey draws for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games.
 
England’s men feature in pool B along with New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago in the draw, which was announced by the International Hockey Federation and Commonwealth Games Federation today (Friday).
 
Australia, who won gold at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games four years ago and also won gold at the 2010 World Cup in Delhi, feature in pool A along with both Pakistan and Malaysia, the silver and bronze medallists in Melbourne, the host nation India and Scotland.
 
England’s women, the bronze medallists in Melbourne four years ago, have also avoided Australia in the pools. They are in pool B with New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia and Wales. Australia and India, the gold and silver medallists respectively in Melbourne, are both in pool A, along with South Africa, Scotland and Trinidad & Tobago.
 
The women will be the first to go into action in Delhi, with England opening their account against Wales on 5 October. They conclude their pool matches against Malaysia on 9 October.
 
England’s men open up again Trinidad & Tobago on 6 October and conclude their pool games against South Africa on 10 October. A full list of fixtures can be found below.
 
The top two teams in each pool will progress to the semi-finals. The competition will reach its climax with the women’s medal matches on 13 October and the men’s on 14 October.
 
Australia have dominated the hockey tournaments at the Commonwealth Games, winning all but one of the gold medals since the sport made its Games debut at Kuala Lumpur in 1998. They had to settle for bronze in the women’s competition at Manchester 2002 when India won gold.
 
England have won hockey medals at each Games, but are yet to strike gold.  England’s women won silver and the men bronze at Kuala Lumpur in 1998, while the women won another silver in Manchester.  The women beat New Zealand to take bronze in Melbourne, but the men went down to Malaysia in the bronze medal contest.  
 
Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games hockey draw
 
Men
Pool A: Australia, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Scotland
Pool B: England, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Trinidad & Tobago
 
Women
Pool A: Australia, South Africa, India, Scotland, Trinidad & Tobago
Pool B: England, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia, Wales
  
Match schedule (all times local, all matches on Pitch 1 unless stated):

Monday 4 October
Women Pool B, 10:30, New Zealand v Wales
Women Pool A, 13:00, South Africa v Trinidad & Tobago
Women Pool B, 16:00, Canada v Malaysia
Women Pool A, 18:00, India v Scotland
 
Tuesday 5 October
Women Pool B, 08:30, England v Wales
Men Pool A, 10:30, Pakistan v Scotland
Women Pool A, 13:00, Australia v Trinidad & Tobago
Men Pool B, 14:00, New Zealand v Trinidad & Tobago, Pitch 2
Women Pool B, 16:00, New Zealand v Malaysia
Men Pool B, 16:30, Canada v South Africa, Pitch 2
Men Pool A, 19:00, India v Malaysia
Women Pool A, 21:00, South Africa v Scotland
 
Wednesday 6 October
Men Pool A, 08:30, Australia v Scotland
Women Pool B, 11:00, Canada v England
Women Pool A, 13:30, India v Australia
Men Pool B, 15:30, England v Trinidad & Tobago
Men Pool B, 18:30, New Zealand v South Africa
Men Pool A, 20:30, Pakistan v Malaysia
 
Thursday 7 October
Women Pool A, 11:00, Scotland v Trinidad & Tobago
Women Pool B, 13:00, Malaysia v Wales
Men Pool A, 16:00, India v Australia
Men Pool B, 18:00, Canada v England  
 
Friday 8 October
Women Pool A, 08:30, South Africa v Australia
Women Pool A, 10:30, Trinidad & Tobago v India
Women Pool B, 13:30, New Zealand v England
Men Pool B, 15:30, South Africa v Trinidad & Tobago
Women Pool B, 18:30, Wales v Canada
Men Pool A, 20:30, Malaysia v Scotland
 
Saturday 9 October
Men Pool B, 08:30, New Zealand v England
Men Pool A, 10:30, Pakistan v Australia
Women Pool A, 13:30, Australia v Scotland
Women Pool B, 14:00, England v Malaysia, Pitch 2
Men Pool B, 16:00, Trinidad & Tobago v Canada
Women Pool B, 16:30, New Zealand v Canada, Pitch 2
Men Pool A, 19:00, Scotland v India
Women Pool A, 21:00, South Africa v India
 
Sunday 10 October
Men Pool B, 12:00, England v South Africa
Men Pool B, 14:00, New Zealand v Canada
Men Pool A, 16:30, Australia v Malaysia
Men Pool A, 19:00, Pakistan v India
 
Monday 11 October
Women 9-10, 08:30, 5th Women Pool A v 5thWomen Pool B
Women semi-final, 11:00, 1st Women Pool A v 2nd Women Pool B
Women 5-6, 13:30, 3rd Women Pool A v 3rd Women Pool B
Women semi-final, 17:30, 1st Women Pool B v 2nd Women Pool A
Women 7-8, 20:00, 4th Women Pool A v 4th Women Pool B
 
Tuesday 12 October
Men 9-10, 08:30, 5th Men Pool A v 5th Men Pool B
Men semi-final, 11:00, 1st Men Pool A v 2nd Men Pool B
Men 5-6, 13:30, 3rd Men Pool A v 3rd Men Pool B
Men semi-final, 17:30, 1st Men Pool B v 2nd Men Pool A
Men 7-8, 20:00, 4th Men Pool A v 4th Men Pool B
 
Wednesday 13 October
Women, 10:30, Bronze Medal Match
Women, 13:00, Gold Medal Match
 
Thursday 14 October
Men, 09:00, Bronze Medal Match
Men, 11:30, Gold Medal Match
 

 
The 2010 Commonwealth Games take place in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010. They will feature 17 sports - archery, aquatics (swimming, synchronised swimming & diving), athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, lawn bowls, netball, rugby 7s, shooting, squash, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling. With the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Commonwealth Games England is entering a breath-taking four years of sport.

Commonwealth Games England (GCE) is the organisation responsible for selecting and organising England's team at the Commonwealth Games.   England finished second to Australia on the medal table at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games with 36 golds, 40 silvers and 34 bronzes.

Sport England is responsible for building the foundations of sporting success, by creating a world-leading community sport system of clubs, coaches, facilities and volunteers. Their focus is growing and sustaining the numbers of people taking part in sport and improving talent development to help more people excel.
 
For further information about England Hockey please go to www.englandhockey.co.uk
 
For further information about Commonwealth Games England please contact the Commonwealth Games England press office at Matchtight Ltd on 07765 071683 or 07831 755351 or see the CGE’s website at www.weareengland.org <http://www.weareengland.org <http://www.weareengland.org> >