Asian Men's Champions Trophy: Indian team sight title defense in China

The Indian men's national hockey team will return to action for the first time since their last month's medal-winning run at the Paris Olympics. They will be competing at the Asian Champions Trophy in China.

The 18-member squad will be heading to the tournament as the defending champions, sighting for a title defense. The tournament is scheduled from September 8-17 in Hulunbuir, China.

A new beginning

This tournament will be the start of a new 4-year Olympic cycle for the Indian team, who will start planning for the same by testing their bench strength and preparing a roadmap for the next couple of years.

This tournament will also be the first tournament for the team since the retirement of the veteran goalkeeper, PR Sreejesh, who decided to end his illustrious career after the Paris Olympics.

Hence, Krishan Pathak will be the leading goalkeeper for India at this tournament in China. He has been one of the regular goalkeepers for India in the last few years and now will take over the ownership from the back.

On the other hand, penalty corner specialist, Harmanapreet Singh will continue to lead the side in this tournament from the back. He will get support from experienced defenders like Jarmanpreet Singh and Amit Rohidas.

Whereas, the forward line has a mix of both youngsters like Uttam Singh and Araijeet Singh, and proven stars like Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh.

India will open their campaign with the first match against the host China on September 8.

Format

There are six teams in the competition and they will face each other in a single round-robin group stage format.

The top four teams on the points table after the group stage will progress to the knockout matches while the two bottom-placed teams will play for a placement match.

The knockout stage will have two single-legged semifinals and the winners of these matches will go for the summit clash on 17th September.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Suraj Karkera

Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Jugraj Singh, Sanjay, Sumit

Midfielders: Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Vivek Sagar Prasad The top two (VC), Manpreet Singh, Mohammad Raheel Mouseen

Forwards: Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Uttam Singh, Gurjot Singh

Schedule

3:30 PM IST - India vs China - September 8

1:15 PM IST - India vs Japan - September 9

1:15 PM IST - India vs Malaysia - September 11

1:15 PM IST - India vs South Korea - September 12

1:15 PM IST - India vs Pakistan - September 14

1:00 PM IST - Semifinals-1 - September 16

3:30 PM IST - Semifinals-2 - September 16

3:30 PM IST - Final - September 17

Live streaming details

The live streaming of the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 will be available on the official app and website of Sony Liv. The live broadcast of the tournament will also be available on the Sony Sports Ten 1 TV channel in India.