After winning the second consecutive bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Indian men’s hockey team is all set for their next assignment in the 2024 Asian Champions Trophy in China. Before the start of the tournament, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh said that the Indian team is ready for the challenge after the Olympics.
Before leaving for China for the Asian Champions Trophy, which is set to be played from September 8 to 17, Harmanpreet Singh said that India had a great outing in Paris but now they need to move on from the Olympics bronze medal and focus on defending the Asian Champions trophy title. Notably, India defeated Malaysia by 4-3 in the final of the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy. Now they will be entering the tournament as defending champions and will look to defend their title in China.
"With a brief break after the Paris Olympics, the team is ready to take on the best hockey playing nations in Asia and prove its mettle,” Harmanpreet Singh said, as quoted by NDTV Sports. "We had a good outing in Paris but hockey is a very close game, we cannot rest on our laurels," he further added.
India to face hosts, China in their opening match of Asian Champions Trophy
The Indian hockey team will begin their title defense in the Asian Champions Trophy with an opening match against the hosts, China on September 8. They will next take on Japan the following day, on September 9. After a one-day break, India will face Malaysia on September 11, Korea on September 12.
On September 14th, India are scheduled to take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their last league fixture. After that, the tournament will proceed to the semi-finals, scheduled on September 16, followed by the final on September 17. India is the most successful team in Asian Champions Trophy with three titles (2011, 2016, 2023) along with the joint title with Pakistan in 2018.
