KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21: Pakistan will defend their Under-19 World Cup crown by playing the hosts Malaysia on Feb 17, as they try to become the first team to win a hat-trick of titles, as the 2008 tournament was officially launched here on Wednesday.

Pakistan are the only team to have won back-to-back titles at this level, having won in 2004 and 2006 in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka respectively and begin as top seeds in Malaysia.

India, the winners from 2000 and runners-up last year, are seeded second, with Australia (winners in 1988 and 2002) seeded third and England (winners in 1998) fourth as those two sides were the losing semi-finalists in 2006.

The 16 participating teams will be battling for a place in the final on March 2. Besides the ICC’s 10 full members and hosts Malaysia, five qualifiers – Namibia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Ireland, and Bermuda – will take part in the tournament.

Groups (seedings in brackets):

Group A: Pakistan (1), Zimbabwe (8), New Zealand (9), Malaysia (16).

Group B: India (2), West Indies (7), South Africa (10), PNG (15).

Group C: Australia (3), Sri Lanka (6), Nepal (11), Namibia (14).

Group D: England (4), Bangladesh (5), Bermuda (12), Ireland (13)

Schedule:

Feb 11-14: Warm-up matches

Feb 15: Opening ceremony

Feb 17-22: First group stage

Feb 24-March 1: Super League and Plate competitions

March 2: Final.—Agencies