Hockey will debut on the new Olympic Channel this Thursday (20 October 2016) as the QNET Men’s Asian Champions Trophy gets underway in Malaysia, featuring six of the finest teams from the Asian continent.
The Olympic Channel is a free, ground-breaking digital platform where fans can experience the power of sport and the excitement of the Olympic Games all year round, and is available worldwide via mobile apps for Android and iOS devices and at olympicchannel.com.
While FIH Official Media Partner Star Sports (India), BT Sport (United Kingdom and Ireland) and Astro (South East Asia) will be exclusively showing this event in their territories, fans in countries without broadcast agreements will be able to tune in to every single game on the Olympic Channel between 20-30 October 2016.
Introduced in 2011 to create an opportunity for Asian teams to gather more high-level competition experience, the latest edition of the Asian Champions Trophy will take place in Kuantan, capital city of the state of Pahang on Malaysia’s east coast.
The high profile event sees the Malaysian home favourites taking on Asian Games champions India and current title holders Pakistan as well as Korea, China and Japan.
The competition will take place at the 8,000 capacity Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium, a venue that hosted the men’s Pahang Hockey Champions Challenge 1 back in April 2014. With continental ranking points up for grabs, the competition is sure to be fierce.
Over the course of the eleven-day event, the teams will first play each other in a round-robin, which will be followed by semi-finals and placement matches. Here is a quick look at the competing teams.
India (FIH Hero World Ranking: 6) have named a star-studded line-up as they aim to add a second Asian Champions Trophy title to the one they claimed in 2011. Sardar Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra are just a few of the key players selected by head coach Roelant Oltmans for the competition. Ahead of the event, ace goalkeeper and team captain P.R Sreejesh stressed that his team must not be complacent. He said: "We may be the top ranked team in Asia right now but no team can be taken lightly. The defending champions (Pakistan) are known to spring a surprise and Korea too will be a team to watch out for as they have been playing good quality hockey lately.”
Korea (FIH Hero World Ranking: 11) are the second highest ranked team in the competition and regularly challenge for top honours in Asia. The team contains plenty of talent and is captained by vastly experienced midfielder Jung Manjae, who like a number of his team mates represented Korea at the Hero Hockey Champions Trophy in London earlier this year.
Pakistan (FIH Hero World Ranking: 13) come into the event with a new look team that has set its sights on defending the title that they won both in 2012 and 2013 as well as claiming the maximum continental ranking points available. Although there are many young faces, the experience of team captain Fareed Ahmed, excellent goalkeeper Imran Butt as well as Mohammad Rizwan Junior and Mohammad Rizwan Senior are sure to play a vital role.
Malaysia (FIH Hero World Ranking: 14) will be determined to put on a good show for their passionate home fans and have enough talented players to make them serious contenders for the title. Penalty corner specialist Mohd Razie Abdul Rahim has the firepower to hurt every team in the competition, while skillful striker Faizal Saari has true star quality.
Japan (FIH Hero World Ranking: 16) may have an average age of just 23, but are a potent force that is building towards their Olympic challenge at Tokyo 2020. Key players include defender Kenji Kitazato, midfielder Kazuma Murata and forwards Kentaro Fukuda and Hiroki Nakamoto, the team captain.
China (FIH Hero World Ranking: 18) bring a youthful side to the competition, with the vast majority being aged 22 or younger. 20-year-old Meng Lei has been named as the team captain, while Du Chen is the oldest member of the group at just 25. China’s excellent showing in the 2014-15 edition of the Hockey World League provided plenty of evidence that they are capable of some surprises, something they will be aiming to repeat in Kuantan.
On Thursday’s opening day, host nation Malaysia will start their title challenge against Pakistan, who were winners of the last two editions of the event in 2012 and 2013. That match will be followed by India, champions in 2011, taking on Japan.
More information about the event can be found on the Asian Hockey Federation website by clicking here.
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Watch this event live on the Olympic Channel website. If geoblocking is in place, please search for your local broadcaster showing this event.
