In a bid to take international hockey events to different cities across the country, Hockey India announced Chennai, Tamil Nadu, as the venue for the forthcoming Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023.
This will be the seventh edition of the coveted tournament, which is scheduled to be held from 3 August to 12 August, 2023, serving as a precursor to the Hangzhou Asian Games in September this year, where teams will vie to win the gold and qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Chennai last hosted an international hockey event in 2007 when the prestigious Asia Cup was held, and the venue proved to be lucky for the home team, which clinched the title by beating Korea 7-2 in the Final.
The Indian Men’s Team won this title in the inaugural edition held in 2011 and beat Pakistan in the final to win the title in 2016. In the following edition in 2018, India and Pakistan were joint winners after rain affected the proceedings of the final held in Muscat.
Welcoming the participating teams to Tamil Nadu, Minister of Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin said, as quoted by a Hockey India press release, “It is indeed a great pleasure and honour to host the Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, which was once the capital of hockey in South India with many reputed domestic and international events being held here. I am very delighted to see the sport being revived in the state with many youngsters coming up the ranks, including a recent sensation in the Indian team, S Karthi, who is from Tamil Nadu.”
