India will start as favourites against Malaysia in their opening match of the Women’s Asian Hockey 5s World Cup Qualifier on Friday. The tournament is scheduled to take place from August 25 to 28. India are in the Elite Pool alongside Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. The second, Challengers Pool, consists of Hong Kong China, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Iran and Oman. A total of 16 teams will be taking part in the 2024 FIH Hockey 5s World Cup. Oman, being the host nation has already been qualified. India need to finish in top three to qualify for the 2024 FIH Hockey 5s World Cup. Besides this, the top three teams from Africa, America, Europe and Oceania will also qualify for the next year’s FIH Hockey 5s World Cup. The last time, the Indian women’s hockey team played against Malaysia was during the Women’s Asia Cup last year, where it emerged a convincing 9-0 winner. Against Japan, India went down 0-2, while they thrashed Thailand 13-0 in the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in Donghae, South Korea. India captain Navjot Kaur said their primary focus is to qualify for the World Cup. “There are some quality teams in the qualifiers, so we have to be at our best,” said Navjot. “We cannot take anything for granted. We will take things slowly, try to play fluid attacking hockey and work hard to qualify for the 2024 FIH Hockey 5s World Cup. “In every match, we will put our best foot forward.