THE Irish hockey squad's opening match in the World Cup second qualifying tournament in Kuala Lumpur will be against old rivals Belgium on March 4th. This game and the next three matches will all be in the evening relatively cool.

Swift South Korea provide the opposition on the 5th then after two days' rest, comes a meeting with dogged New Zealand, followed the next evening by a confrontation with Argentina.

There follows another breather before Belarus (beaten 2-1 in Dublin) are tackled in the final pool game, on March 11th, which is bound to be a torrid struggle, with the hit off at 3.30 in the afternoon.

"All of the matches will be tough," said Ireland manager George Compston last night. "But we can start by slowing down the Belgians."