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The Asian Champions Trophy is scheduled to take place from August 3 to August 12 in Chennai, with participation from six nations.
On that note, let's check out the three reasons why the Indian team could do wonders in the tournament.
#3 Impact of key players in the squad
The key players will have to step up and help the team to have a deeper run in the tournament. Here are a few notable players, who are expected to play a vital role in the coveted tournament.
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Harmanpreet Singh: The drag-flick specialist, Harmanpreet will lead the Indian side. He won the FIH Player of the Year award — Men’s in 2020-21, and played an important role in India’s bronze-medal-winning campaign at Tokyo. With 18 goals in the FIH Pro League 2021-22, the Indian skipper is in sublime form.
Manpreet Singh: One of the most capped players of the team led the Indian team in their impressive campaign at the Tokyo Olympics. Manpreet’s experience will come in handy in crunch situations and guiding youngsters for big games.
PR Sreejesh: The Wall of India - as he’s called — the Indian captain at the 2016 Olympics— was the World Games Athlete of the Year in 2021. Sreejesh will be a vital player to the team’s success in this tournament and can prove to be the player India is rooting for to play his best.
#2 Motivation for Asian Games, and qualification for the Olympics
As we are approaching the Asian Games, this will be an all-important tournament for the Men in Blue, where the same teams will participate as well. It will be a good headstart in terms of preparation for the Asian Games.
If the Indian contingent performs well in the Asian Games, they might earn direct qualification to the Paris Olympics. In the Tokyo Olympics, Team India settled for a bronze, and will look to play well under pressure to win a coveted gold medal.
A rigorous training camp has been organized for the Indian team ahead of the important tournaments. In fact, the former mental conditioning coach of the Indian cricket team, Paddy Upton has also been called up to help the players to prepare for a big tournament.
Meanwhile, coach Craig Fulton is optimistic about the team’s roster, which has the potential to perform well in the Asian tournaments.
“We have carefully chosen a squad that has the potential to go on and give a good account of themselves in the Asian Champions Trophy,” chief coach Craig Fulton said in a release last month.
#1 India’s recent performances and track record in Asian Champions Trophy
India and Pakistan have lifted the Asian Champions Trophy for the most number of times (3). However, leading up to the tournament, the Men in Blue will be the favourites to start the tournament against their Asian counterparts.
India is currently coming off an impressive FIH Pro Season 2022-23, where they finished fourth in the standings. They managed to secure eight victories in 16 games while accumulating 30 points.
The recent appearance of the Indian team was in the Spanish Hockey Federation Tournament. They managed draws against England (1-1) and Netherlands (1-1), and lost a game to Spain (2-1). All in all, the outlook for the Indian team is positive.
