Pakistan team arrive at Chennai to participate in Asian Men's Hockey Champions Trophy
Aug 01, 2023
Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 2 : Pakistan Men's Hockey team arrived at Chennai on Tuesday to participate in the Asian Men's Hockey Champions Trophy 2023 which will begin on Thursday.
Hockey India shared the pictures of the Pakistan team welcomed at Chennai city, saying "The competition heats up."
Pakistan Hockey team on Monday arrived in India via the Attari-Wagah border. Earlier in the day, Indian Men's Hockey team arrived at Chennai Airport.
The Men's Asian Champions Trophy is an event held annually by the Asian Hockey Federation (since 2011). It features Asia's top six field hockey teams during that hockey season competing in a round-robin format.
India and Pakistan are the joint most successful teams in this tournament's history.
Both were declared joint winners of the 2018 Men's Asian Champions Trophy.
Men's Hockey team chief Coach Craig Fulton arrived at the Chennai airport where he said that his team will try to do well in the tournament and they are excited to play at home."Everyone wants the team to do well. So we want to win things. There are a lot of expectations from the team, so we need a bit of patience there. But at the same time, we have a good opportunity now to play well this week," Craig Fulton told ANI on Tuesday.
Muhammad Saqlain coach of the Pakistan Hockey team said on Monday, "The team is travelling to Chennai to play in the Asian Champions Trophy and teams from all over Asia will feature in the tournament. Through sports, we hope to build our relationship stronger."
"I believe that through the sports and film industry, our bounds will grow stronger with India. People from both countries have big hearts and treat their guests well," he said.
Captain of the Pakistan Hockey team Muhammad Umar Bhutta said, "The team will be playing in the Asian Champions Trophy. The tournament will be held from August 3 till August 12."
"Sport is a good thing, it helps to build your relationship with others. There should be a lot of sports," he said.
Pakistan has won the tournament on three occasions. They clinched the first title in 2012, the second in 2013 and shared the trophy with India in 2018.
India won the inaugural tournament in 2011, then in 2016 and in 2018 they shared with the title with Pakistan.
South Korea won the tournament in 2021.
