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The 2021 edition of the men’s Asian Champions Trophy will be held in Bangladesh from October 1 to 9, the Asian Hockey Federation announced on Friday. The Asian Champions Trophy will be played at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka. This will also be the first time that Bangladesh will be participating in the tournament.
The event, which was scheduled to take place last year, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The AHF had originally planned to stage the tournament ahead of the Tokyo Olympics but had to change the plan due to a packed international schedule,
Among the participating six teams, India and Japan will be playing in the Tokyo Olympics. While Japan had qualified for the Tokyo Olympics directly as hosts, India made the cut after drubbing Russia 11-3 in a two-legged FIH Olympic Qualifiers in Bhubaneswar in 2019.
Here is all you need to know about Asian Champions Trophy
Tournament: Asian Champions Trophy
Venue: Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium
Host city: Dhaka
Date: October 1-9, 2021
Teams: India, Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Malaysia, Bangladesh
India and Pakistan have won the title thrice each
The first Asian Champions Trophy was staged back in 2011 in China, with India emerging as the inaugural champions after beating arch-rivals Pakistan in the final. Till now India and Pakistan are the most successful teams in the competition with three titles each.
India have won the title in 2011 and 2016, while Pakistan were triumphant in 2012 and 2013 editions. Both India and Pakistan shared the trophy in 2018 after the final in Oman was washed out. India’s only runners-up finish in the competition came in 2012.
Faizal Saari tops the tournament goalscoring charts
Malaysia’s Faizal Saari is the highest goalscorer in the Asian Champions Trophy with 17 goals. He scored nine in the 2013 edition before adding another eight to his tally in the last edition in 2018. India’s Rupinder Pal Singh and Pakistan’s Muhammad Waqas are second with 11 goals each to their name.
