With some of the teams here for the Asian Champions Trophy starting Wednesday questioning the scheduling of the event, both Hockey India (HI) and the FIH have dismissed any concerns, suggesting the teams use this opportunity to streamline their plans instead.
“We play practice matches before every major event and injuries can happen any time, even during training. What happens then? This event, on the other hand, will be a competitive one and I think we should take it as a test of our preparation. There will be over a month left after this for the Asian Games. We should not be too bothered and focus on delivering our best here,” HI president Dilip Tirkey stressed on Tuesday.
With only the winner of the Asian Games qualifying for the Paris Olympics, India will have to take the qualifiers route. And while the teams for both Olympic Qualifiers — in Spain and Pakistan — will be drawn later, Tirkey was clear that India will travel to either country if needed.
