Home ›› 14 Dec 2021 ›› Sport
After a four-year break, international hockey will return to Dhaka today with the Asian Champions Trophy 2021. But hosts Bangladesh will have to sit out of the first day of action as the tournament opener will be played between South Korea and India at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka at 3:30 PM.
This second match of the day will be between Japan and Pakistan at 6 PM.
Bangladesh’s first match will be on Wednesday against tournament favourites India.
Five teams will be taking part in the tournament, instead of the initial six as Malaysia pulled out due to Covid-19 concerns. The five teams are- Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Japan, and South Korea.
Ahead of the tournament, the trophy was unveiled at the Maulana Bhashani Stadium on Monday, where the five captains, Chief Executive of the Asian Hockey Federation Dato Tayyab Ikram, and Bangladesh Hockey Federation Vice-President Abdur Rashid Sikder, and other BHF officials were present.
Bangladesh, the worst-ranked side among the five, are playing the Champions Trophy for the first time. Bangladesh are not in the top 35 of the International Hockey Federation’s men’s team rankings, whereas India are placed fifth, with Japan, South Korea, and Pakistan ranked at 15th, 16th, and 17th.
Ahead of the tournament, Bangladesh did not have the best of preparations as they were thrashed 4-1 by Japan and 3-1 by Pakistan in their two practice matches.
But Bangladesh skipper Ashraful Islam is hopeful that if they can play their best game, they can get some results in the tournament.
“If we can play our best hockey, according to the coach’s plans, I believe we can do something well,” he said to the media on Monday.
Despite the double defeat in practice matches, Ashraful is hopeful of turning things around through some thorough video analysis.
“The matches we have played, we will analyse them. We also have video footage of the opposition; we will analyse those and figure out how to play against whom. We will come to the field fully prepared, and hopefully, we will achieve something good,” the Bangladesh skipper said.
Bangladesh have not played an international match for more than three years, and their match against India will be their first match since the 2018 Asian Games.
Skipper Ashraful is considering Pakistan their closest rivals as they have not also played an international match in more than two years.
“We have not played an international match for more than two (three) years, since the Asian Games. In that sense, our rival is Pakistan because they have also not played international hockey in a long time. We will try against all the sides, but against Pakistan, we will be more focused,” he said.
Indian captain Manpreet Singh wished all the team luck. He said, “At first, I would like to thank the AHF and BHF for arranging this tournament. All five teams will try their best to win here, and the best team will win. Good luck to everyone.”
Pakistan captain Muhammad Rizwan Sr said, “We are very happy that AHF arranged this tournament. This is very good for Asia. And it is very good to see Bangladesh hosting this tournament.”
Japan captain Seren Tanaka said, “In this tournament, our goal is to win.”
South Korea skipper Jung-Geun Lee said, “Thank you to the AHF and BHF for arranging this tournament. We are very happy to be here.”
BHF vice-president Sikder informed about the bio-secure protocol they will be following for the tournament.
“The players have been tested for Covid-19 and will be tested further in the future. The teams will arrive from the hotel to the stadium directly within a bio-secure protocol. The full bio-bubble procedure will be followed,” he said.
