Bengaluru: Indian men’s hockey team announced on one side while women’s hockey team headed for Donghae, Korea on Tuesday afternoon on the other side from Bengaluru with an eye on the Asian Champions Trophy title.
The women’s tournament scheduled to be held between 5 – 12 December 2021 will see India up against China, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia in the single-pool competition.
India’s first match will be against Thailand on December 5th, followed by Malaysia on December 6th and hosts and defending champions Korea on December 8th. On December 9th, India will face China, and on December 11th, India will face Japan. The Final will be held on December 12th and will include the pool winner and the team that finished second in the pool.
“Definitely the whole team is excited. This is our first tournament after the Olympics and we have a responsibility to do well at the tournament. We have quite a few youngsters who are part of the team and will be making their International debut, they are also looking forward to this exposure”, said Captain Savita leading the team, in the absence of Rani who is undergoing rehab in Bengaluru.
“No doubt, we go in as a top ranked team but we don’t want that reputation to create any added pressure. We just want to stick to our basics and ensure whatever we have planned is executed properly. A team like Korea is difficult to beat at home and last edition too we lost to them closely in the Final and this time too I expect them to challenge us,” she added.
“The Asian Champions Trophy will be a fresh start and doing well here will be a good ahead of a busy season next year,” said the experienced defender cum Vice Captain Deep Grace Ekka.
While the upcoming Men’s Asian Champions Trophy, will be contested between December 14 and 22, 2021 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The 20-member Indian men’s hockey team was announced last Friday by Hockey India.
