Chennai, 2nd August 2023: The arrival of India’s neighbouring nations Pakistan and China in Chennai on Tuesday night energised the city’s atmosphere ahead of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023. While the China Men’s Hockey Team directly flew to the host city, Pakistan Men’s Hockey Team entered India through the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar, from where they took a flight to Chennai via Bengaluru.

The eagerly awaited Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 is set to be played from August 3rd to August 12th. The tournament promises intense battles as six teams – India, Pakistan, Korea, China, Malaysia, and Japan will lock horns with each other.

Pakistan, who have won the Asian Champions Trophy title thrice, are the most successful team in the history of the tournament alongside India, and they will now be aiming to win the elusive trophy for the record fourth time.

Pakistan will open their campaign against Malaysia on 3rd August.

Talking about the preparations for the tournament and playing in India, Pakistan’s Coach Sheikh Shahnaz said, “We are always excited to play in India and it definitely adds to the pressure, but good quality players know how to perform and deliver under pressure, hence, we are hopeful of a good show on and off the field.”

“We are here to play positive hockey and I believe that India and Pakistan should play more and more matches against each other as it will help both teams to take their respective games to the next level. Also, the Asian Champions Trophy will serve as a good precursor to Hangzhou Asian Games as we will be playing against the same teams in China, so this tournament will help us identify strengths and weaknesses of our opponents,” he added before stating, “We are hopeful of at least playing the final of the tournament.”

Also, commenting on grouping numerous young players with a couple of experienced campaigners in his team, Shahnaz said, “Nowadays, you have to take a chance by adding young players to the team. It has now become a crucial aspect of modern hockey. The younger players not only have better fitness levels but also bring new energy, commitment, flair, and skills to a team and they can easily adapt to the ever-changing hockey environment. So, I believe the mixture of youngsters with some experienced players in the team is more effective in modern hockey.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Captain Umar Bhutta said, “Many of the young players in our team recently played in the Junior Asia Cup. So, for them, this tournament will be familiar to a certain extent and they won’t find it very difficult to get accustomed to the conditions here and play in such high-level tournaments as I think that a sportsman is habitual to soak pressure and perform in crunch situations.”

“Also, I have some wonderful memories of playing in India when I last came to this country five years ago to participate in the 2018 World Cup. This time as well, I have come here with the hope of giving our best as a team and gaining as much experience as we can. Moreover, it’s a crucial tournament for us in regards to the upcoming Asian Games as we will be able to try different team combinations and fine-tune our strategies in this competition, which will ultimately help us improve as a team,” he added.

On the other hand, China are eyeing to clinch the Asian Champions Trophy for the first time. They will play their opening game of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 on 3rd August against the hosts India.

In anticipation of the upcoming tournament, China’s Coach Haiqin Weng provided insights into their preparations, stating, “We have prepared very well for the tournament and we are excited to play in India. People here are very nice and we are eager to play in the Asian Champions Trophy here.

Further talking about the weather and playing conditions in Chennai, Haiqin said, “The weather is very hot here, however, the turf where the tournament will be played is pretty similar to the one that we have in China, so that will be an added advantage for us.”

Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 will be live on Star Sports and FanCode. It will also be live streamed on watch.hockey for viewing outside of India.

HOCKEY INDIA TEAM PARTNERS 

Odisha (India’s Best Kept Secret) – Major Team Partner 

Sports Authority of India (SAI) 

Shiv Naresh 

About HOCKEY INDIA  

HOCKEY INDIA (HI) is the governing body with exclusive mandate to direct and conduct all activities for both men and women’s hockey in India. It is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Govt. of India as the sole body responsible towards promoting Hockey in India.

Headquartered in New Delhi, Hockey India was established on 20th May, 2009 and is affiliated to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF).

Committed to the development of Hockey in the country, Hockey India with the assistance of Sports Authority of India and Department of Sports, Government of India, trains players at sub-junior, junior and senior level. The governing body engages in Coaching the coaches with International Standard certification programs, educates and equips technical officials and umpires to find a foothold in international arena, provides world-class infrastructure and International exposure for the players besides regular international competition. Hockey India has also pioneered in bringing top International hockey events to India such as the FIH Men’s World Cup in 2010 and 2018, FIH Champions Trophy in 2014, FIH Junior Men’s World Cup in 2016 and 2021, FIH Hockey World League Final in 2017. With its vision to popularize the game and constantly promote it, Hockey India brought the Indian Men’s Hockey Team into the top three in the world. Hockey India is also dedicated to getting the Indian Women’s Hockey Team into the top three in the world.

About ODISHA  
Odisha – the Eastern State of India – is known for its love for Hockey and over the years it has evolved to be the Global Hub of Hockey. The State successfully hosted the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018, followed by the FIH Men’s Series Finals Bhubaneswar Odisha, FIH Olympic Qualifiers Odisha, and FIH Hockey Pro League 2020-21. Odisha has previously hosted the Champions Trophy 2014 and the Odisha Men’s Hockey World League Final Bhubaneswar 2017. Odisha also hosted the FIH Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup in 2021.

Kalinga Lancers, the team owned by the State, were the winners in the Hockey India League 2017. Taking a step further towards realising the dream of restoring the glory of Indian Hockey at the global level, the State is sponsoring the Indian Hockey Teams till 2033.

Odisha also hosted the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.

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