Korea, Thailand and Malaysia arrive in Rajgir for Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2024

Rajgir, Nov 8 (IANS) Korea, Thailand and Malaysia arrived in Rajgir, Bihar on Friday ahead of the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2024. The premier Asian hockey competition will take place from November 11 to 20, featuring defending champions India, Japan and Olympic silver medallists China as well.

Korea, who are tied with China as the second-best ranked team in the competition, have arrived with a new look squad for the continental tournament. They will face Japan on the opening day and their encounter against India is scheduled for November 12.

“All opponents in the competition are strong so, we have to take it game by game and focus on our game. The new players in the squad are mostly younger, filled with pace and physically stronger. We are building the team with a target to do well in the Asian Games and the Bihar Women’s Asian Champions Trophy Rajgir 2024 is a good stage to test the team. It is always a pleasure to play hockey in India, we are looking forward to some intense matches,” Korea’s captain Cheon Eunbi commented.

Meanwhile, Thailand, the lowest-ranked team in the competition will have to face Olympic silver medallists China in their first game of the tournament. And they will face hosts India on November 14.

Thailand head coach Bae Young Wook expressed his optimism ahead of the tournament saying, “It was a great experience when we played in Ranchi last time, we have been to India quite a few times and it is always an enjoyable experience. The team is filled with younger players, mostly from the under-21 team and we have seven seniors to guide them throughout the tournament. The team has prepared well and we are looking to make it to the semi final at least.”

Malaysia will take on defending champions and host India in their first match of the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy 2024. Malaysia arrived with four players yet to make their debut and five players who recently made their senior debut against Wales.

“We have been in India a few times now and the Indian team always challenges us on the pitch. The venue looks nice, I hope the matches will be interesting. The team is mostly filled with youngsters and it will be good to give them some high-level match experience here. This younger lot along with the senior players makes for a good combination; we are eager to see how they will fare against teams like India and China,” Malaysia head coach Ibrahim Nasihin revealed.

India will open their Women's Asian Champions Trophy 2024 campaign against Malaysia at 7:30 pm IST on November 11. The tournament will be telecast on Sony Sports Ten 1 and live stream on SonyLiv. In addition, all India matches will be televised on DD Sports.

--IANS

ab/