Gold medal will secure place for hockey men and women teams in Paris Olympics 2024
Mumbai (IANS). Field hockey competitions at the Asian Games always have an added aura as the winner not only gets a gold medal but also gets a direct berth in the next Olympic Games.
The field hockey competition at the Asian Games, usually held in between two Olympic Games, not only grants supremacy in the continent to the winner, but also gives the added benefit of early qualification for the Olympics, thus making planning and preparation for the mega event Get a chance to do it.
The gold medal winners in the women’s and men’s hockey competitions at the 19th Asian Games, starting in Hangzhou, China on September 23, will book their places for next year’s Paris Olympic Games, tied for fourth with hosts France, Australia and the Netherlands.
Hangzhou is a big challenge for both the Indian teams, as the competition gives the men and women in blue a chance to confirm that the success at the Tokyo Olympics a few years ago was no fluke.
In Tokyo, the Indian men’s team won a historic bronze medal – the country’s first medal at the Olympics in four decades. The women also did themselves proud as the team finished fourth, narrowly missing out on the bronze medal.
Thus, the 12-team competitions in men’s and women’s categories in Hangzhou will have a chance to seal their berths for the Paris Olympics as well as maintain the upturn in their fortunes since Tokyo 2020.
The hockey competitions in Hangzhou will be held at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Stadium, with 12 teams participating in the men’s competition and 10 teams in the women’s competition.
Given their current strength, the world No. 3 Indian men’s team is the favorite to win the Asian Games title, which would be their first continental level title since the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea, when they defeated arch-rivals Pakistan to win the gold. Was defeated in penalty shoot-out.
In the 2018 edition in Jakarta, the Indian men won the bronze medal, while Japan surprised everyone by winning the gold.
The men’s hockey team has played in every edition since 1958 when hockey made its Asian Games debut. India has won at least one medal in every edition, except in 2006 when they finished 5th.
In Hangzhou, the men’s hockey competition will be between 12 teams, divided into two groups of six each, with India placed in Pool A, with defending champion Japan, arch-rivals Pakistan, Bangladesh, Singapore and Uzbekistan the other teams. Will happen.
Pool B includes hosts China, Indonesia, four-time gold medal winners South Korea, Malaysia, Oman and Thailand.
The top two teams from each group after the round-robin stage will advance to the semi-finals.
Although Pool A looks tougher than Pool B on paper, looking at their rankings, India should easily top Pool A, although Japan and Pakistan are capable of troubling them.
Japan had held India to a 1-1 draw in the group stage of the Asian Champions Trophy held in Chennai last month, however, India defeated the Land of the Rising Sun 5-0 in the semi-finals and reached the title. .
Head coach Craig Fulton added P.R. to the team. Have picked a strong and experienced team with stars like Sreejesh and Manpreet Singh, both playing their third Asian Games.
The duo won gold in Incheon in 2014 and bronze in the 2018 edition and will be hoping to add another gold to their trophy cabinet.
The team, led by prolific scorer Harmanpreet Singh, has some young players like Sanjay and Neelkant Sharma. The forward line has a new look in the absence of experienced Akashdeep Singh and Karthi Selvam.
India will begin their campaign against Uzbekistan on September 24 in Hangzhou and will face defending champions Japan on September 28 and arch-rivals Pakistan on September 30.
In the women’s category, Savita Punia’s Indian team has been placed in Pool A along with South Korea, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore, while Pool B includes hosts China, defending champions Japan, Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Thailand in the 10-team competition. .
The main preliminary round matches for the Janeck Schopman-coached team will be against former champions South Korea on October 1 and Malaysia on September 29. India will have to defeat both or at least one of these to reach the semi-finals.
The women’s team, led by Savita Punia, has experienced players like vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka, Navneet Kaur, Deepika, Lalremsiami and Vandana Kataria.
The team will begin its campaign against Singapore on September 27 and unless it pulls off a major Harakiri, it will have to make it to the semi-finals.
Both Indian teams enter the competition aiming for medals, but claiming anything other than gold would be a major disappointment for both the teams and the fans.
This would mean that India would have to go through the tough process of the Olympic qualifying tournament to claim its place at the Paris Olympic Games.
