Indian males’s hockey group captain Harmanpreet Singh on Tuesday stated the upcoming Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai will likely be a “litmus test” for the facet forward of the Asian Video games to be held in September-October later this 12 months.

Indian males’s hockey group captain Harmanpreet Singh(Hockey India)

The seventh version of the Asian Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held from August 3 to 12, serving as a precursor to the Hangzhou Asian Video games in September the place groups will vie for gold and qualify for the Paris Olympic Video games.

“For many of us, it will be the first time that we will be playing in Chennai. I remember our seniors talking about the Asia Cup in 2007 held in Chennai which was a great tournament for India, defending the title in a successful campaign,” Singh stated in a launch.

“This will likely be a really perfect event for us to see the place we stand in opposition to the identical groups with whom we will likely be competing within the Asian Video games. Will probably be a litmus take a look at for the group forward of the Asian Video games.

“It will also give us a good understanding of our opponents and we can further prepare well for the Asian Games where we aim to win the gold medal and directly qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics.”

India received the Asian Champions Trophy within the inaugural version in 2011 and beat Pakistan within the last in 2016 to reclaim the title. Within the following version in 2018, India have been joint winners with Pakistan after rain affected the proceedings in Muscat.

Within the earlier version in 2021 held in Dhaka, the Indian group completed with a bronze medal.

With Korea and Malaysia showcasing good kind in World Cup 2023 in Bhubaneswar-Rourkela, Harmanpreet stated that the competitors will likely be intense.

“Korea has shown great progress over the last couple of years. They won the Asia Cup in Jakarta last year and also did very well in the World Cup,” the ace dragflicker stated.

“Malaysia too is a strong contender for the title and they continue to have one of the best penalty-corner attacks. It will undoubtedly be a hard-fought tournament.”