Asian Champions Trophy 2023 | India to start campaign against China, look to win tournament

Notably, India is the most successful team in the history of the tournament alongside Pakistan as both teams have won the Asian Champions Trophy thrice each. Hence, with their exceptional skills, agility, and teamwork, the hosts will now aim to make the nation proud by clinching the elusive trophy for the record fourth time and script a new chapter in the archives of Indian hockey history.  

Speaking on India’s preparations for the tournament and the team’s recent performance, Chief Coach Craig Fulton said, “I think we did really well in our recently concluded four-nation tournament in Spain. We faced some really good opponents in the past 10 days and performed well against them. We have started playing the way we like to play. Also, we made some tactical changes in our game in our recent games and now we will aim to implement those in the Asian Champions Trophy.”  

Further talking about the areas that are needed to be worked upon as a team and the teams which will be tough to face in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023, Hardik said, “I think we need to control the tempo of the game and we need to be switched on from the word go so that we can begin a game on the positive note.”  

"I hold the belief that each team participating in the competition presents a formidable challenge, being of good quality. Consequently, our approach shall be to prepare diligently for every encounter, offering nothing less than our utmost efforts," he added.