Women's Asian Champions Trophy: India to start campaign against Thailand

Indian women's team will begin their campaign against Thailand in the upcoming edition of the Women's Asian Champions Trophy in Ranchi, announced the Asian Hockey Federation on Tuesday.

The tournament will be opened with a clash between Japan and Malaysia in the Jaipal Singh Astro Turf Hockey Stadium, Ranchi.

Women's Asian Champions Trophy will see Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan, China, and India go into battle to lift the coveted trophy. The six-team tournament will begin on 27th October and will conclude on 5th November.

All the teams are part of One Pool and the top four teams will qualify for the Semi-Finals, where the team finishing on top of the table will take on the team that finishes fourth, and the teams finishing second and third will play each other to decide the Finalists.

Defending Champions Japan will face a stiff challenge from Korea, the most decorated team in the tournament's history, which has won three out of six tournament editions, in 2010, 2011, and 2016.

India will face Malaysia in the second game followed by China in the third game and defending champions Japan in the fourth game. India will finish the league stage against Korea in the fifth game.

Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey said, "We are proud to host another major Asian tournament and I’m sure the Jharkhand Women’s Asian Champions Trophy Ranchi 2023 will be a great spectacle with some of the top women’s hockey teams in the world participating in the tournament. The announcement of the schedule signals the start of the final stages before the tournament and we cannot wait for this extravaganza to begin.”

Currently, the Indian women's hockey team will be leaving for the upcoming Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, and will look to win the gold medal and secure the 2024 Paris Olympics berth.

Schedule for Women's Asian Champions Trophy

• 27th October 2023- Japan v/s Malaysia, China v/s Korea, India v/s Thailand
• 28th October 2023- Japan v/s Korea, Thailand v/s China, India v/s Malaysia
• 30th October 2023- Korea v/s Malaysia, Thailand v/s Japan, China v/s India
• 31st October 2023- Korea v/s Thailand, Malaysia v/s China, Japan v/s India
• 2nd November 2023- Malaysia v/s Thailand, China v/s Japan, India v/s Korea
• 4th November 2023- 5th/6th Place, Semi-Final 1 (2nd in pool v/s 3rd in pool), Semi-Final 2 (1st in pool v/s 4th in pool)
• 5th November 2023- 3rd/4th Place (Loser SF1 v/s Loser SF2), Final (Winner SF1 v/s Winner SF2)