Bengaluru: Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh said that after finishing the celebration of winning the Olympic bronze medal for the second time in a row, now we have to focus on retaining the title in the Asian Champions Trophy to be held in China this month.
India won the bronze medal in the Paris Olympics under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Singh. Harmanpreet, however, said that now after the break, we have to focus on the Asian Champions Trophy to be held from 8 to 17 September.
Before leaving for China, Harmanpreet said, after the break after the Paris Olympics, the team is ready to face the Asian teams.
He said, our performance in the Paris Olympics was good but hockey is a very close game. We cannot rely on the good performance of the past. Apart from India, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Japan and host China are participating in this tournament. India has to play against China on 8 September.
After this, there is a match against Japan on 9 September, Malaysia on 11 September, Korea on 12 September and Pakistan on 14 September.
The top four teams will play in the semi-finals while the final is on 17 September. India has won the title four times and Pakistan has won it three times. Last time India won the title in Chennai by defeating Malaysia 4-3.
