The 7th edition of the men’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament is set to commence at Chennai’s Mayor Radhakrishnan stadium on Thursday, August 3, with the final scheduled for August 13. This marks the first time the tournament is being hosted in India, and it’s a significant occasion for the Tamil Nadu capital as it welcomes an international hockey tournament after a gap of over 15 years.

The timing of the tournament is crucial as it comes less than two months before the Asian Games in China, where the gold medalists directly qualify for the Paris Olympics next year. This provides essential practice for the teams participating in both events, which are scheduled from September 23 to October 8. Moreover, the tournament serves as the first home event for India’s new chief coach, Craig Fulton.

The competing nations in the tournament include India, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Pakistan, and China. India, ranked fourth in the world, holds the top position among the six teams, while China has the lowest ranking. India is also the only team in the field with Pro league experience. The six teams will play against each other once in a round-robin format, and the top four will progress to the semi-finals.

India and Pakistan have both won the trophy three times each. India emerged as champions in 2011 and 2016, while Pakistan secured victories in 2012 and 2013. In 2018, the arch rivals were declared joint winners after the final was washed out by rain. India aims to improve its performance from the last edition in 2021, where they lost in the semifinals, and South Korea claimed the title with a win over Japan in the final.

India’s round-robin games will take place at 8:30 pm IST.

Aug 3 India vs China

          South Korea vs Japan 4pm

         Malaysia vs Pakistan 6:15 pm

Aug 4 India vs Japan

          Korea vs Pakistan 4 pm

          China vs Malaysia 6:15 pm

Aug 6 India vs Malaysia

          China vs Korea 4 pm

          Pakstan vs Japan 6:15 pm

Aug 7 India vs South Korea

          Japan vs Malaysia 4 pm

          Pakistan vs China 6:15 pm

Aug 9 India vs Pakistan

          Japan vs China 4 pm

          Malayasia vs Korea 6: 15 pm

The Semi Finals are on August 11 and final on August 13.

The matches will be broadcasted on Star Sports Network in India

Team India has won the third-place game in Asia Hockey Cup 2022. Indian Hockey team has defeated team Japan by 1-0 and won the bronze medal. Unfortunately, India will not play the finals, rather Malaysia will take down South Korea for the gold medal on June 5. The match will begin at 5 pm.

Midfielder Rajkumar Pal had put India ahead early in the first quarter. This helped India to hold a lead over Japan. Moreover, seven penalty corners made the situation worst for Japan. India dealt with only two penalty corners but they led the circle penetration stats to 11-10. One time of the match India was down to 10 players but they managed to hold on and win their second bronze medal at the Asia Hockey Cup.

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The 11th edition of Men’s Hockey Asia Cup is being hosted by Indonesia and today the finals will be played at GBK Hockey Field in Jakarta, Indonesia. The top five teams from the previous Asia Cup India, Pakistan, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and the hosts Indonesia had qualified for the Asia Cup Hockey 2022 tournament.

Indian squad for Asia Cup Hockey 2022

Goalkeepers: Pankaj Kumar Rajak, Suraj Karkera

Defenders: Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Yashdeep Siwach, Abhisek Lakra, Birendra Lakra (Captain), Manjeet, Dipsan Tirkey

Midfielders: Vishnukant Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Mareeswaren Sakthivel, Sheshe Gowda BM, Simranjeet Singh

Forwards: Pawan Rajbhar, Abharan Sudev, SV Sunil (Vice Captain), Uttam Singh, S Karthi Replacement Players

Standbys: Maninder Singh, Pawan, Pardeep Singh. Ankit Pal and Angad Bir Singh.  

The Hockey Asia Cup can be viewed at the star sports network as the Star Sports India won the broadcast rights for the tournament in India. Audience can watch the final match of Asia Cup 2022 live on Star Sports Select 2 and Star Sports Select 2HD. Digital live streaming will be available on Disney+ Hotstar.

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Indian hockey team on Wednesday defeated arch-rivals Pakistan to secure the bronze medal in the Asian Champions Trophy Hockey 2021 in Dhaka.

Fight for the third place between both countries was a neck-to-neck contest, where the Men in Blue led by Manpreet Singh came out on top and defeated the arch-rivals Pakistan by 4-3 for the third spot in the tournament.

After suffering a defeat from Japan in the semifinals, India had to play Pakistan for the bronze trophy. Earlier a couple of days ago, India had beaten Pakistan in their group match by 3-1 and entered into the semi-finals as the only unbeaten team in the round-robin stages. While in another semi-final, South Korea also beat Pakistan by 6-5 in a close encounter.

The match was a thriller from the very first quarter of the game. India opened the scoring first when Harmanpreet Singh scored from the penalty corner, but it was Pakistan’s Arfraz who equalized for the Men in Green in the first quarter. Once India was in trouble when Abdul Rana scored second for Pakistan and India went behind by 2-1. But eventually, in the final quarter, India gained the momentum and took a crucial lead of 3-2 through Varun Kumar’s penalty corner and Gursahibjit Singh’s equaliser.

And last but not least star striker and veteran player Akshdeep Singh sealed the match with India’s final goal, which put India ahead by 4-2 against arch-rivals Pakistan. Later, Pakistan also managed to score one more goal, but it was enough for India to clinch the bronze medal by thrashing Pakistan 4-3.

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For India, Harmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Varun Kumar and Akashdeep Singh scored the goals, while Arfraz, Abdul Rana and Nadeem were the scorers for Pakistan.

On the other hand, Japan and South Korea will be fighting for the Gold medal of the Asian Champions Trophy Hockey 2021.