Asian Champions Trophy to be held in October - AHF

The men’s Asian Champions Trophy, postponed due to COVID-19, will be held in Dhaka from October 1 to 9.

The last edition of the men’s Asian Champions League was held in Muscat, Oman, in October, 2018.

The men's Asian Champions Trophy hockey will be held from October 1 to 9, 2021, in Dhaka, the Asian Hockey Federation has announced.

The tournament, originally pencilled in for 2020, was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In our mission to bring hockey back to the pitch after the global disruption caused by coronavirus, I am pleased to announce the rescheduling of dates for the postponed men's Asian Champions Trophy 2021 in early October this year,” AHF chief executive Tayyab Ikram said.

“It is yet another victory in our battle against the virus and its effects on the sports world, and I wholeheartedly congratulate the Asian Hockey family, Bangladesh Hockey Federation and hockey lovers worldwide for this win,” he said in a statement .

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The new dates of the men's ACT have been confirmed with the Bangladesh Hockey Federation and are also approved by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the AHF said. The sixth edition of the biennial event will take place at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka among six teams - Japan, India, Pakistan, Korea, Malaysia and host Bangladesh.

The men's edition was supposed to be held in Dhaka from March 11 to 19, while the women’s event was to be organised in Donghae, South Korea, from March 31 to April 6.

Originally, both tournaments were scheduled to be held last year but were postponed because of the deadly virus. While the original dates of the men's event was from November 17 to 27 last year, the women's tournament was scheduled from June 14 to 21.