CHENNAI: The Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium has been receiving a fresh coat of paint over the last few months as it gets ready to host the Asian Champions Trophy. Tamil Nadu sports minister, Udhayanidhi Stalin, had been to Odisha to watch the World Cup earlier this year.
While there, the TN delegation had requested the authorities to allot an international event to the state that’s been devoid of international hockey since 2008 (it had hosted a bilateral against Belgium).
The wheels were set in motion and the Asian Hockey Federation gave the hosting rights to Hockey India who allotted the same to the Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu (HUTN).
This is a departure from the norm as the AHF has usually preferred to give the ACT to nations largely trying to build a reputation for the sport in the region; China, Japan, Doha, Malaysia, Oman and Bangladesh were the six previous hosts of the event whose inaugural edition was in 2011.
The TN sports minister believed that hosting the event in Chennai will help the sport to grow in the region.
The last big tournament was the Asia Cup in 2007. In 2021, India finished third, beating Pakistan to bronze in Dhaka.
While that was an experimental team post the Olympics, this competition will be taken more easily by the team management for a variety of reasons.
Mainly, this offers the new coaching team, headed by South Africa’s Craig Fulton, a look at the team just before the Asian Games.
While the ACT is slated to be held from August 3 to 12, the Asian Games begins in Hangzhou from September 23.
Pakistan likely to make trip
Considering the ACT is not a bilateral event, there are not expected to be many problems apropos Pakistan’s participation. In fact, when compared to other sporting teams, their hockey teams have, relatively speaking, fewer problems in coming to India. They came here in 2018 for the senior men’s World Cup as well as in 2021 for the junior men’s World Cup.
Bhola Nath Singh, HI secretary general, shared the same sentiment when he said “... the top teams from Asia will play. There will be no problems with permission.”
What remains to be seen, though, is whether the ongoing chess games between the two respective cricket boards with respect to participation at the Asia Cup in Pakistan and the World Cup in India will have an effect on this.
New turf
In line with modern standards, the Radhakrishnan Stadium will have a blue astroturf to bring it in line with FIH standards. There will also be a practice pitch (mandatory for international events) coming up inside the premises. It remains to be seen if there will be a test event to test out the refurbished facility before the ACT.