Twenty-team men's and women's tournaments will take place at the Philippine Arena until June 12, with the discipline building towards its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020.

Serbia have won three of the four men's tournaments held to date including the last two in a row in Nantes last year and in Guangzhou in 2016.

They have been placed in Pool A in Bocaue and will be joined by The Netherlands, last year's runners-up, Romania, New Zealand and Kyrgyzstan.

Dusan Bulut, a three-time world champion with the Serbians, is expected to spearhead their charge.

Slovenia, Poland, Estonia, Japan and Ecuador will play in Pool B with Russia, Brazil, Mongolia, Canada and hosts The Philippines in Pool C.

Troy Rosario is the star name among the home side and will look to propel his country throughout the tournament.

Pool D has grouped Latvia, Ukraine, Jordan, Nigeria and Croatia.

Karlis Lasmanis led Latvia to the European title last season and will be among players to watch.

The top two countries from each group will reach the quarter-finals.

In the women's event, Russia will be bidding to defend their title and will play Andorra, Iran, two-time winners United States and Uganda in Pool C.

Anna Leshkovtseva, the most valuable player in Nantes, will feature again for the Russians as they seek to win the tournament for a second time.

Last year's runners-up Hungary have been grouped in Pool D with The Netherlands, Germany, Spain and the host nation.

Pool A features Indonesia, Czech Republic, Italy, Malaysia and Turkmenistan while Pool B contains China, France, Kazakhstan, Switzerland and Argentina.