 "Asian Champions Trophy hockey")
Hockey is once again the talk of the town as India faces the best teams in Asia. The Asian Champions Trophy will begin on August 03 and will be held in Chennai till August 12, 2023. It is being organised just before the all-important Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
The travelling teams did not look happy at all by the timing of the tournament. They feel that the scheduling could have been far better.
What’s the issue with Asian Champions Trophy schedule?
The issue is timing of the event. Post the completion of the Hockey Pro League in May, there was time for the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) to organise the event. But instead of making it a June or July tournament, they are playing it in August which is only a few weeks away from the Asian Games. But why is Asian Games that important?
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“To organise a tournament five weeks before a major event, an Olympic qualifying event, I'm curious to know what's the reason behind it. I am sure some of us know why,” Malaysian hockey team coach Arul Selvaraj said in a press conference during the tournament’s curtain raiser at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium, the venue for the tournament.
Stage is set for the Ultimate Asian Showdown as six top teams face each other to claim the title of The Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023.
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 2, 2023
3rd August to 12th August 2023.
MRK Hockey Stadium, Chennai.
Star Sports First, Star Sports Select HD 2, FanCode App.
Book… pic.twitter.com/aqfslzjULJ
Asian Games at the heart of all problems
Olympics glory is the biggest aim for any nation. The Asian Games work as the direct qualifiers for the Olympics. Thus the one team from Asia which will for sure play at Paris 2024 Olympics, will be the gold medalists at the hockey event in Asian Games 2023. It will be held from September 22 to October 8, 2023.
The teams train for such a huge event with tours to foreign countries and mental condition camps. Malaysian coach was in the middle of all this when he heard of the Asian Champions Trophy.
“It's just 5 weeks before the Asian Games. Also, it's a hectic tournament with seven matches in 10 days, which is really tough. Normally teams use this period to go on tours where they play two matches and have a break hopefully we look into this and make sure it doesn't happen in the future,” said Selvaraj.
Malaysia were scheduled to play strong opponents like Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain while on their Europe tour to prepare for the Asian Games. But that would not be happening anymore.
The anticipation builds up
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) August 2, 2023
Pakistan Men's Hockey Team arrived in Chennai for their quest to win Hero Asian Champions Trophy for the fourth time.#HockeyIndia #IndiaKaGame #HACT2023 pic.twitter.com/shbeiHcaCv
Problems with Chennai weather and match-timings
Scheduling is not the only issue that the teams face. South Korea, who are the defending champions from Dhaka 2021, feel that their match timing of 04:00 pm IST is not ideal to play hockey in Chennai weather. Complaining about the issue, their coach said that only hosts India have favourable match timing with the first whistle at 08:30 pm IST.
“Our first, second and third matches are 4 pm matches. I don't like that. Only India is playing at 8.30 pm with cooler conditions. I don't understand that. Is it because India is the host? Mixed timings for everyone would have been better," South Korea coach Seok Kyo Shin said.
He also complained about his team picking up injuries just ahead of the all-important Asian Games. “I don't like this tournament because next month we have the Asian Games,” said Shin. The Korean side is travelling with their best available players and only two injury reserves.
Also Read: Asian Champions Trophy Hockey 2023: Teams, Mascot, Where to Watch and More
The weather in Chennai is going to be hot with temperatures ranging between 35-36 degrees Celsius between 4 pm to 6 pm IST. The humidty will be around 70%, making it very difficut for players from South Korea, Japan and China to cope up.
Also Read: Asian Champions Trophy Hockey 2023: Teams, Mascot, Where to Watch and More
The weather in Chennai is going to be hot with temperatures ranging between 35-36 degrees Celsius between 4 pm to 6 pm IST. The humidty will be around 70%, making it very difficut for players from South Korea, Japan and China to cope up.
Indian captain has issues with amount of rest, but the not coach Fulton
There were no other complainants apart from Malaysia and Korea as Japan said that they will take this as an opportunity to gauge their opponents for the Asian Games. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh did not like the idea of just four days of rest before an important tournament like this.
“Back-to-back tournaments, we get some time. One week, two weeks... but suddenly a gap of only four days. It will be difficult and it's also a new turf so players may take time to adjust,” Harmanpreet said after his return from Spain where the team participated in the Spanish Hockey Federations’ 100th-anniversary tournament.
“It will be difficult but it will be the same for all teams,” added the drag-flicker.
However, Indian coach Craig Fulton did not have any issue with the tournament being so close to the Asian Games. He termed the Champions Trophy as necessary.
Radhakrishnan Stadium is all set to host Hero Asian Champions Trophy 2023. pic.twitter.com/ipgMLz7QWB
— Dilip Kumar Tirkey (@DilipTirkey) July 30, 2023
“Nice to come to Chennai after a long time. There are positives and negatives. I understand the clash and timing but we need the games,” Fulton said.
India will open their campaign in the third game of the opening day as they will take on China. It will be a round-robin format tournament with each team playing the other once before the knockouts. The top four teams on the points table will qualify for the semi-finals.
