Dhaka: The Indian men’s hockey team will play in the 2021 Men’s Asian Champions Trophy in Dhaka, following their historic achievement in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. India, the defending champion, will commence the tournament on December 14 when they face South Korea in their opener.
The Men in Blue will be short of eight players from the Tokyo Games team, including experienced goalkeeper PR Sreejesh. The tournament might see a chance for certain periphery and future talents to make their claims in their absence.
The tournament features Asia’s top six field hockey teams in the round-robin format. With three titles apiece, Pakistan and India are the most successful teams in the Men’s Asian Hockey Champions Trophy. Following cancellation due to persistent rains, India and Pakistan were proclaimed joint winners of the 2018 Men’s Asian Champions Trophy.
India’s past record
Winner: 2011,2016,2018
Runners-Up: 2012
5th place: 2013
India Squad
Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera
Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumar, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Mandeep Mor
Midfielders: Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Jaskaran Singh, Sumit, Rajkumar Pal, Akashdeep Singh, Shamsher Singh
Forwards: Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Dilpreet Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Shilanand Lakra
Team India train at Moulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium Dhaka to battle their best in Hero Asian Champions Trophy Dhaka 2021#HeroACT2021 pic.twitter.com/MylyFNBZMO
— Asian Hockey Federation (@asia_hockey) December 11, 2021
India Schedule
In the very first encounter, India will face South Korea on Tuesday (December 14). Following Korea, India will face Bangladesh on December 15, Pakistan on December 17, and Japan on December 19. The top four teams from each group will advance to the semi-finals on December 21, with the championship match on December 22.
14 December 15:00 – India vs South Korea
15 December 15:00 – India vs Bangladesh
17 December 15:00 – India vs Pakistan
18 December 15:00 – India vs Malaysia ( Cancelled as Malaysia have withdrawn)
19 December 15:00 – India vs Japan
21 December 17:30 – Semifinal 1
21 December 20:00 – Semifinal 2
22 December 17:30 – Bronze Play-off
22 December 20:00 – Final
Live Streaming
Star Sports will broadcast the 2021 Men’s Asian Champions Trophy, which will also be live streamed on Hotstar.
