Ahead of the much-awaited Super 4s stage at the ongoing Hero Asia Cup 2022, the Asian Hockey Federation along with hosts Indonesia Hockey in presence if the Indonesia Olympic Committee unveiled the glittering Hero Asia Cup trophy at an elite gathering that included all eight participating nations India, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Oman and hosts Indonesia and their respective captains at the event.
Speaking on the occasion, AHF Chief Executive Dato Tayyab Ikram, who is also the IOC Commission Member and Treasurer of FIH Foundation said, “My first gratitude and appreciation goes to the athletes taking part in this event. One of our main objective was to provide you with world class facilities to perform to your best abilities.”
“Sports is the greatest unifier, it has no borders and brings nations together on one platform. Without the leadership of this country Indonesia, who have proven on many occasions that they can host big events, we could not have hosted an event of this significance. Starting from the President Raja Sapta to the leadership in Indonesia Hockey President Major General TNI AD Budi Sulistijiono. We are pleased to see the leadership of Indonesian Hockey Federation and we look forward to more events here,” added Dato Tayyab Ikram.
Meanwhile, Indonesia Olympic Committee President Raja Sapta Oktohari, who unveiled the trophy said, “We are looking forward to host bigger events here, the Hero Asia Cup is not the first and surely not the last. Some day in the near future, we would also like to host the Hockey World Cup.”
Indonesia Hockey President Major General TNI AD Budi Sulistijiono said, “We are very happy to host Asia’s best teams in this tournament. Having events like this will help promote hockey in our region and watching world class players from other countries will also motivate our players.”
Introduced in 1982, with the first edition played in Karachi, Pakistan, the Men’s Asia Cup is a marquee event in the Asian Hockey Federation’s calendar. The inaugural edition was clinched by Pakistan and they won the subsequent editions in 1985 held in Dhaka as well as the one held in New Delhi in 1989. South Korea then dominated the tournament, winning the titles in 1994 and in 1999. India won the trophy back-to-back in 2003 held in Malaysia and in 2007 held in Chennai, India. South Korea bagged the titles in subsequent editions in 2009 and in 2013 which were both held in Malaysia.
India lifted the title in the previous edition held in Dhaka, Bangladesh after a gap of 10 years and now in Jakarta, the title race is between Malaysia, Korea, Japan and India who have made it to the Super 4s stage. By making it to the final four, Malaysia, Japan and Korea have qualified for the FIH Men’s World Cup to be held in Odisha in January next year.
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