Chandigarh/Jalandhar, October 31: The ongoing Asian Champions Trophy, an international hockey tournament being hosted on Punjab soil for the first time, has crossed the halfway entering in final phase. Each team has already played three league matches thus two matches remaining for each team. The remaining league fixtures will be played on November 1 and 2 while India and Malaysia have secured its places in the semi-finals after winning three matches each. On the individual goal-scoring tally, Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh was leading with five goals.
The event is the result of the concerted efforts of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, whose vision has brought top-tier Asian hockey to the state. Dream come true for Indian hockey players who have long wished to play an international competition on home soil.
Saturday was a rest day for all teams in the Asian Champions Trophy, as no match would be played. However, the China, South Korea and Bangladesh teams held practice sessions. In the closing days of the league stage, the matches will take place at 2:30 PM, 4:45 PM, and 7:00 PM respectively. On November 1, South Korea would play with Bangladesh whereas another match is to be held between China and Japan, and India will take on Malaysia followed by November 2 matches between China and Bangladesh, Malaysia and Japan while India would play against South Korea. The matches would be played at 2:30 pm, 4:45 pm and 07:00 pm respectively.
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In the league matches played at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium in here, India and Malaysia have already secured positions in the semi-finals by winning all three matches so far. India tops the points tally owing to a goal difference, while Malaysia sits in second place. Japan is at third place with two victories and South Korea having one victory occupies fourth place. China and Bangladesh were not secured any victory. Of total six participating teams, the first four teams would advance to the semi-finals while the teams finishing fifth and sixth place in the league phase are to play for the fifth-position. All knockout stage matches would be played at the
Olympian Balbir Singh Senior Stadium in Mohali on November 4 and 5.
A total of 9 matches have been played in the tournament so far, with every match showing a decisive result and no match registered a draw. A total of 54 goals have been scored, averaging six goals per match. Of the 54 goals, 28 were field goals, 23 from penalty corners, and three were scored via penalty strokes. After three matches for each team, India has scored the highest number of goals (22) and three conceded goals . Malaysia has scored 14 goals with six conceded goals. Japan has scored 5 goals and conceded 6. South Korea has scored 5 goals and conceded 7. China has scored 7 goals and conceded 12, whereas Bangladesh has scored 1 goal while conceding 20. So far, only India and Japan have kept a clean sheet in a match, with both teams achieving this by not conceding a single goal against Bangladesh.
In the individual goal-scoring standings, Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh was at the top tally with five goals in three matches followed by Malaysia’s Abu Kamal Azrai with four goals. India’s Mandeep Singh and Abhishek, along with Malaysia’s Akhimullah and Azimuddin, have scored three goals each. The only hat-trick of the tournament so far was scored by India’s Mandeep Singh, who netted three goals in the opening match against Bangladesh. India’s Hardik Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Jugraj Singh, and Dilpreet Singh; China’s Chongcong Chen and Benhai Chen; and Malaysia’s Faizal Saari had scored two goals each. Nineteen players have scored one goal each, bringing the total number of players on the goal-scorers list to 32.