Chennai to host Men’s Hockey Asian Champions Trophy in August

The Tamil Nadu government and Hockey India on Monday announced that the coveted Men’s Hockey Asian Champions Trophy 2023 will be held in Chennai from August 3 to August 12, which will serve as a precursor to the Hangzhou Asian Games in September.

As many as 16 teams from Asian countries will participate in the championship which will be held at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai. This will be the first time in 16 years that Chennai will host an international hockey event after the Asian Cup in 2007 that proved lucky for the Indian team, which clinched the title defeating Korea 7-2.

This is the second international sporting event that Chennai will play host to in less than a year after the Tamil Nadu government successfully conducted the 44th Chess Olympiad in Mamallapuram in July 2022 after the event was shifted out of Russia due to the Ukraine war.

Tamil Nadu Sports Development and Youth Affairs Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin made the announcement about the hockey championship at a press conference here along with Dr Dilip Tirkey and Bhola Nath Singh, President and Secretary-General of Hockey India.

Udhayanidhi said the state government has been asking the Hockey India to provide an opportunity to Tamil Nadu to host an international event as part of efforts to encourage people to take up sports as a career.

“I am very delighted to see the sport being revived in the state with many youngsters coming up the ranks including recent sensation in the Indian team S Karthi who is from Tamil Nadu. I believe hosting the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 here will further revive the sport in the region,” the minister said.

He also added that watching top teams in Asia will also inspire the younger generation to take up hockey as a career. The Indian Men's Team had won the men’s hockey championship title in the inaugural edition in 2011 and beat Pakistan in the final to win the title in 2016.

Singh said Hockey India officials have already visited the venue in Chennai and have taken note of the on-going preparations for the championship and added that they are keen on taking international hockey matches to other states in the country.