Asian Champions Trophy hockey postponed to December
The continental event, which will field six teams including India, has now been postponed thrice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Asian Champions Trophy 2021 hockey tournament has been postponed to December 14-22, the Asian Hockey Federation announced on Tuesday.
This is the third time the biennial continental event has been postponed since last year. It was originally slated to be held in 2020 but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed to March this year. It was later rescheduled to October 1-9.
The tournament will be held at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The Indian hockey team along with Japan, Pakistan, South Korea, Malaysia and hosts Bangladesh will participate in the competition.
The Asian Champions Trophy was first held in 2011. India and Pakistan are the most successful teams in the competition with both winning three titles each.
India lifted the Asian Champions Trophy in 2011 and 2016 and Pakistan became champions in 2012 and 2013.
The last edition held in 2018 saw India and Pakistan share the honours after the final in Oman was called off due to heavy rain.