Hockey Asian Champions Trophy: Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh expressed his gratitude to ‘Chennai supporters’ following his team’s victory in the Asian Champions Trophy. India scripted a sensational comeback win by defeating Malaysia 4-3 in the final on Saturday at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai. The skipper in his special message, thanked the fans for motivating the team to push harder and win their record fourth title in the tournament.
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Harmanpreet Singh’s special message
Harmanpreet Singh on Sunday, took to X and wrote, “Brilliant performance by the Team which lead us to accomplish our goal for gold. Thank you Chennai for the great number of supporters which motivated us on the field to push harder. We’ll keep going. Looking forward for Asian Games.”
The Asian Champions Trophy marked the return of International Hockey to Chennai after a gap of 17 years. The tournament was also played in India for the first-ever time. Playing in front of the home crowd, India had a remarkable tournament. The Men in Blue remained undefeated throughout the tournament.
India had won four matches and registered a solitary draw in the round-robin stage. This helped the team finish on top of the points table. In the semifinal the team went on to defeat South Korea 5-0. However in the summit clash, India were trailing 1-3 against Malaysia at the half-way mark.
India then produced a sensational comeback. It started with Harmanpreet Singh scoring off a penalty stroke. Gurjant Singh then equalised within a minute. In the final quarter, Akashdeep Singh netted the winner to help the home side win the tournament in front of the vociferous crowd.
India’s next target is the Asian Games. The multi-sport continental event gets underway on 23rd September at Hangzhou, China. For the Indian Hockey team it will also serve as an Olympic Qualifier. The winner of the tournament will earn a direct spot in the Paris Olympic 2024.
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