The players of the Indian hockey team are seen reading a copy of The Peninsula before a training session on the eve of their Asian Champions Trophy match against China at the Al Rayyan Stadium yesterday. India take on China in the second match of the day at 5.00pm and Pakistan will clash with Oman at 7.00pm. The championship officially opens today at 3:00pm with a match between Malaysia and Japan. BOTTOM: Indian players during a training session yesterday.
Doha: Hockey heavyweights India and Pakistan today will be looking pick up ‘easy’ points at Al Rayyan Stadium where they play their first games on the opening day of the 2012 Asian Champions Trophy.
Eight-time Olympic champion India take on China while four-time World Cup winners Pakistan will play minnows Oman in the last match of the day.
In the lung-opener today, Malaysia play Japan in the clash set to start at 3:00pm.
Coach Akhtar Rasool said Pakistan - who finished third in the IHF Champions Trophy in Sydney less than two weeks ago - are ready to rumble in Doha.
“All the boys are in good shape. We have a blend of young and experienced players in the side. We also managed to put in some useful practice and are ready for the challenge,” Rasool said on the eve of their match against Oman.
The six-team event has come to Qatar for the first time.
Last month, the Al Rayyan Stadium played host to the World Hockey League, an event contested by lowly-ranked hockey nations like Qatar, Oman, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Sri Lanka.
Oman, the lone GCC entry in the six-team, were an uncertainty for the tournament and had planned to pull out of the event, but tough talk by FIH and a threat of sanctions forced the Omanis to have a rethink.
The minnows have no high hopes from the tournament but are keen to enjoy playing against some of the top teams from Asia.
“We cannot win against Pakistan that is a certainty. But we will give our best. We have told our players that this is best practical learning experience for them. They can watch their idols play here and pick up some skills from the greats,” said Oman coach K K Poonacha, former India international and junior team manager.
Poonacha has been reinstalled as coach of the national team after the team’s disastrous campaign in Qatar in the World League where they won just one match in the five-team tournament and finished second last.
The 44-year-old who represented India at the 1994 Sydney World Cup, in which India finished fifth, said: “Oman have nothing to lose but everything to gain.”
In the second match of the day defending champions India will be eager to wipe out some of the bitter memories of their last journey to Qatar during the 2006 Asian Games.
The eight-time Olympic champions, who failed to win a medal at 2006 Asian Games, take on dark horses China in their first match today.
India lost 3-2 to China in the Asian Games Group match in Doha and also failed to win a medal in hockey at the Games.
The Men in Blue drew with South Korea 1-1 in a league match they had to win to advance to the semi-finals.
The Koreans went on to win a second successive gold medal with a 3-1 win over surprise finalists China, who knocked out Pakistan in the semi-finals.
Four-time world champions Pakistan had to settle for a bronze medal at the Doha Games. The Koreans are not here in Qatar for the Asian Champions Trophy.
China have a few experienced hands who were part of the team which won silver in Qatar six years back.
“We have four players who played in the Asian Games in Doha, so we are not new to the venue and the conditions, we have selected some new players and we will able to build a strong team after the National Games which will take place next year,” said Yang Liu, manager of the Chinese team. Korean Cho Myung Jun is the head coach of the team and has been in charge of the team for the last one year. Earlier, he was head coach of Korean national team for seven years.
Pakistan which is in the fifth place in the FIH rankings goes into the eight-day tournament as top-ranked team and will take on India on December 24.
The championship officially opens today at 3:00pm with a match between Malaysia and Japan.
There is not much difference in terms of rankings between the two teams. Malaysia is in the 13th spot, and Japan three places behind in the FIH rankings.
Pakistan captain Muhammad Imran is one for the many players who think that Malaysia, which finished third in the last edition and Japan, are dark horses of the tournament.
Malaysia team, which recently took part in the Challenger Cup, is a mixture of new players and veterans and coach Paul Revington is confident of a good show in Qatar.
“We have a good team and I’m confident that they will stand up to the challenge,” Revington said.
THE PENINSULA
