By: Munazza Malik
4th Asian Men's Hockey champions trophy will be played from 20th to 30th October 2016 in Malaysia. Top six Asian teams will participate in the tournament - Pakistan, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and China.
If we look into the history, this event started back in 2011 as to provide a platform for Asian teams to get an experience. Three editions were held regularly from 2011-2013. But due to lack of sponsors and interest, it wasn't held in 2014 and 2015. Oman and South Korea appeared only 2 times, where as China, India, Japan, Malaysia and Pakistan appeared in all 3 editions. Pakistan is the most successful team with 2 titles and current title holder too.
For the first time, in Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) tournament, a video referral system will be introduced. Along with that, they got a title sponsor too for the first time. FIH's decision came in April 2016 to approve the ranking points for the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT). They said that,
"The continental rankings for Asian will be calculated across a four year cycle, taking into account the results of Asian games, Asia cup and Asian Champions Trophies held during that time"
This shows that if any team doesn't play in the Asian Games, Asia Cup or Asian Champions Trophy, then they will not qualify for the Olympics or World Cup.
This tournament will follow a Robin format in which each team will play each other once. Then the top four will play semifinals and final. The last two teams will face play off for the 5th place.
Schedule has been released by the Federation. In an opening day, Host Malaysia will face the most successful team Pakistan.
This tournament is going to be special for all Pakistanis as Pakistan has to defend the crown. In the last tournament (2013), Pakistan defeated Japan by 3-1 while in 2012, Pakistan defeated India by 5-4 in the final. In 2011, Pakistan lost to India by 4-2 on penalties and won silver medal.
Among these six teams, India and Pakistan are the teams who won the Asian Champions Trophy. Malaysia - the host team, have 3 bronze medals (2011, 2012, 2013).
Pakistan's head coach Khawaja Junaid said,
"This is quite an inexperienced squad. Around 8 players have been part of the senior team for less than a year."
He further added,
"Sultan Alan Shah Cup was my first assignment and I had just two weeks for preparation. There, they played without any structure, more of individual play. A lot of hard work had been put in this time."
We just hope, Pakistan will perform their best and able to defend their title too. If Pakistan will win this tournament, then it will be a hat-trick Asian Champions Trophy title win for Pakistan.
SQUADS
* India
PR Sreejesh (captain)
Akash Chikte, Rupinder Pal Singh, Pardeep Mor, Jasjit Singh Kular, Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar; Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Manpreet Singh (vice-captain), Sardar Singh, SK Uthappa, Devindar Walmiki; Talwinder Singh, SV Sunil, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Nikkin Thimmaiah and Affan Yousuf.
Chief coach: Roelant Oltmans
* Japan
Masahito Kunitomo, Takumi Chida, Daichi Kurokawa, Masaki Ohashi, Shota Yamada, Hirotaka Zendana, Kenji Kitazato, Kazuma Murata, Suguru Hoshi, Seren Tanaka, Hiromasa Ochiai, Tsubasa Yamamizu, Yuki Wakuri, Hiroki Sakamoto, Kenta Tanaka, Genki Mitsutani, Kentaro Fukuda and Kodai Watanabe.
Chief coach: Takahiko Yamahor
4th Asian Men's Hockey champions trophy will be played from 20th to 30th October 2016 in Malaysia. Top six Asian teams will participate in the tournament - Pakistan, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and China.
If we look into the history, this event started back in 2011 as to provide a platform for Asian teams to get an experience. Three editions were held regularly from 2011-2013. But due to lack of sponsors and interest, it wasn't held in 2014 and 2015. Oman and South Korea appeared only 2 times, where as China, India, Japan, Malaysia and Pakistan appeared in all 3 editions. Pakistan is the most successful team with 2 titles and current title holder too.
For the first time, in Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) tournament, a video referral system will be introduced. Along with that, they got a title sponsor too for the first time. FIH's decision came in April 2016 to approve the ranking points for the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT). They said that,
"The continental rankings for Asian will be calculated across a four year cycle, taking into account the results of Asian games, Asia cup and Asian Champions Trophies held during that time"
This shows that if any team doesn't play in the Asian Games, Asia Cup or Asian Champions Trophy, then they will not qualify for the Olympics or World Cup.
This tournament will follow a Robin format in which each team will play each other once. Then the top four will play semifinals and final. The last two teams will face play off for the 5th place.
Schedule has been released by the Federation. In an opening day, Host Malaysia will face the most successful team Pakistan.
This tournament is going to be special for all Pakistanis as Pakistan has to defend the crown. In the last tournament (2013), Pakistan defeated Japan by 3-1 while in 2012, Pakistan defeated India by 5-4 in the final. In 2011, Pakistan lost to India by 4-2 on penalties and won silver medal.
Among these six teams, India and Pakistan are the teams who won the Asian Champions Trophy. Malaysia - the host team, have 3 bronze medals (2011, 2012, 2013).
Pakistan's head coach Khawaja Junaid said,
"This is quite an inexperienced squad. Around 8 players have been part of the senior team for less than a year."
He further added,
"Sultan Alan Shah Cup was my first assignment and I had just two weeks for preparation. There, they played without any structure, more of individual play. A lot of hard work had been put in this time."
We just hope, Pakistan will perform their best and able to defend their title too. If Pakistan will win this tournament, then it will be a hat-trick Asian Champions Trophy title win for Pakistan.
SQUADS
* India
PR Sreejesh (captain)
Akash Chikte, Rupinder Pal Singh, Pardeep Mor, Jasjit Singh Kular, Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar; Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Manpreet Singh (vice-captain), Sardar Singh, SK Uthappa, Devindar Walmiki; Talwinder Singh, SV Sunil, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Nikkin Thimmaiah and Affan Yousuf.
Chief coach: Roelant Oltmans
* Japan
Masahito Kunitomo, Takumi Chida, Daichi Kurokawa, Masaki Ohashi, Shota Yamada, Hirotaka Zendana, Kenji Kitazato, Kazuma Murata, Suguru Hoshi, Seren Tanaka, Hiromasa Ochiai, Tsubasa Yamamizu, Yuki Wakuri, Hiroki Sakamoto, Kenta Tanaka, Genki Mitsutani, Kentaro Fukuda and Kodai Watanabe.
Chief coach: Takahiko Yamahor
