After successfully hosting the men's Asian Champions Trophy earlier this month in Chennai, Hockey India will hold the Asian Champions Trophy for women for the first time in Ranchi later this year.
Defending champions Japan, runners-up South Korea, China, Malaysia, Thailand and hosts India will participate in the tournament that will be held at Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Astro Turf Hockey Stadium from October 27 to November 5.
The Indian women's team had won this title in 2016 and in the following edition in 2018, they finished runners-up. South Korea, meanwhile, are the most successful team in the tournament having won it thrice while Japan won it on a couple of occasions.
The announcement was made by Hockey India president Dilip Tikey during an event in Ranchi in the presence of HI secretary general Bhola Nath Singh, Jharkhand cabinet minister Hafizul Hassan and Sarojini Lakra, director of sports & youth affairs, government of Jharkhand, among others.
"The women's team has made huge improvements in recent years. In 1980, the women's team got to take part in the Olympics for the first time because some of the teams didn't play. However, the team played in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics and they narrowly missed out on a bronze medal in Tokyo," Tikey said while making the announcement of the tournament at a press conference that also saw the revealing of the official logo of the tournament.
While the tournament will not only allow the women's team to play in front of the home crowd, it will also give the people of Jharkhand a chance to watch international hockey for the first time.
They came out in numbers when the city hosted Hockey India League matches from 2013 to 2017 and one can expect them to make the tournament a memorable affair once again.
"I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on behalf of Hockey India for his unwavering support towards the development and promotion of hockey in Jharkhand," the HI president further said.
The state after all has been a hotbed of hockey and has produced a host of international players over the years like Jaipal Singh Munda (1928 Amsterdam Olympics), Michael Kindo (1972 Munich Olympics), Sylvanus Dungdung (1980 Moscow Olympics), Ajeet Lakra (1992 Barcelona Olympics) and Manohar Topno.
Even a number of current women players like Salima Tete, Nikki Pradhan and Sangita Kumari belong from the state and it will indeed be an emotional moment for them to play in front of friends and families.
As far as the footfall at the venue is concerned, the stadium has a capacity of 7000 seating, but Bhola Nath sounded confident that provisions for more seating can be made during the tournament.
"It is a big honour for us to host such a mega event in Ranchi and I believe it is a stepping stone to host more international hockey events in the future. I thank Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) for entrusting us with this responsibility of hosting this prestigious event," he added in a statement.
