Craig Fulton looks to utilise Asian Champions Trophy as preparatory platform for upcoming Asiad

Published at :August 1, 2023 at 2:15 PM

Modified at :January 13, 2024 at 4:16 PM

Blue colts take on China in the their opening match

The much-anticipated Hero Asian Champions Trophy 2023 is just days away, and the Indian Men’s Hockey Team arrived in Chennai early Tuesday morning, brimming with confidence and determination to win the coveted title. The Indian team was greeted warmly by the fans who had gathered in large numbers outside the Chennai International Airport to welcome the team.

Led by the dynamic Captain Harmanpreet Singh, the Indian Men’s Hockey Team has been gearing up for the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 with rigorous training, strategic planning, and strong team camaraderie.

Notably, India are the most successful team in the history of the tournament alongside Pakistan as both teams have won the Asian Champions Trophy thrice each. Hence, with their exceptional skills, agility, and teamwork, the hosts will now aim to make the nation proud by clinching the elusive trophy for the record fourth time and script a new chapter in the archives of Indian hockey history.

The Indian Team will lock horns with Japan, Korea, Pakistan, China, and Malaysia during the course of the tournament, which is scheduled to be held from 3rd August to 12th August at the iconic Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium and promises to be a thrilling spectacle of world-class hockey.

India will open their campaign against China on 3rd August.

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As per the tournament format, all six teams will each play five matches in the round-robin stage before the top four teams move into the semifinals.

Speaking on India’s preparations for the tournament and the team’s recent performance, Chief Coach Craig Fulton said, “I think we did really well in our recently concluded four-nation tournament in Spain. We faced some really good opponents in the past 10 days and performed well against them. We have started playing the way we like to play. Also, we made some tactical changes in our game in our recent games and now we will aim to implement those in the Asian Champions Trophy.”

“We will use this tournament as a platform to prepare for the upcoming Asian Games,” he added.

Meanwhile, Indian Men’s Hockey Team Vice Captain Hardik Singh applauded the team’s show at the recent tour to Spain and said, “We performed well in Spain, especially in the last couple of games which included the 2-1 win against the Netherlands.”

Further talking about the areas that are needed to be worked upon as a team and the teams which will be tough to face in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023, Hardik said, “I think we need to control the tempo of the game and we need to be switched on from the word go so that we can begin a game on the positive note.”

“I hold the belief that each team participating in the competition presents a formidable challenge, being of good quality. Consequently, our approach shall be to prepare diligently for every encounter, offering nothing less than our utmost efforts,” he added.

Notably, out of the six participating teams, India, Malaysia, Japan and Korea have already reached the host city Chennai, while Pakistan and China are scheduled to arrive here later tonight.

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.

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