The Indian men's team, alongside Oman and Malaysia, clinched the second spot with an impressive 1400 points each. Despite a valiant effort at the World Cup in Muscat, where they finished fifth, India's triumph at the Asian Championship solidified their position among the top contenders.
As per former India captain and Hockey India (HI) President Dilip Tirkey, the defunct HIL will again take place either in December 2024 or January 2025.
With this, Vandana also became the first women player from India to play 300 international games.
India, which recently claimed the bronze medal at the 19th Asian Games at Hangzhou, will be competing in the tournament alongside Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand.
For the first time in 41 years - India holds an Olympic medal, Asian Games medal, and Commonwealth Games Hockey medal at the same time! India have defeated Japan 5-1 in the final to win gold medal in the men's hockey event in the Asian Games on Friday. With this win, the men in blue have also secured a berth in the Olympic Games in Paris next year.
India also qualified for the FIH Women Hockey 5s World Cup Oman 2024, finishing first in the Elite Group.
The camp will serve as an opportunity for the players to gear up for the all-important Hangzhou Asian Games, which is scheduled to be held from September 23 to October 8 in China.
The camp will conclude on September 18 ahead of the prestigious Hangzhou Asian Games, scheduled to start on September 23.
The Asian Champions Trophy will also serve as a preparation event for the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023.
The local heroes from Odisha, Amandeep Lakra, Sudeep Chirmako and Sunit Lakra were felicitated and presented a cash award of Rs. 2 lakh each. All three players are from Sports Hostel Rourkela (Panposh).
This will be the team's first outing under newly-appointed Chief Coach Craig Fulton while the team will continue to be led by ace dragflicker and defender Harmanpreet Singh and Vice Captained by the prolific midfielder Hardik Singh.
The team for the Australia tour will be led by ace goalie Savita Punia, who was recently bestowed with the Balbir Singh Sr Hockey India Player of the Year (2022) Award. She will be ably assisted by Deep Grace Ekka as vice-captain.
This will be a qualifying event for the forthcoming FIH Junior Men's World Cup in Malaysia this December and will see India grouped in pool A along with nemesis Pakistan, Japan, Thailand and Chinese Taipei while Korea, Malaysia, Oman, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan are grouped in pool B.
The 48-year-old South African, with nearly 25 years of coaching experience, will join the team at the earliest upon completing formalities.
The final match of the day between Hockey Andhra Pradesh and Hockey Bengal from Pool E ended in a 0-0 draw as both teams failed to control the game for a sustained period.
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