India will travel to Pakistan for Olympic qualifiers if needed, says Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey

Preparation: Tirkey said the Asian Champions Trophy will be competitive and should take it as a test of India’s preparation.
| Photo Credit: M. VEDHAN

With some of the teams here for the Asian Champions Trophy starting Wednesday questioning the scheduling of the event, both Hockey India (HI) and the FIH have dismissed any concerns, suggesting the teams use this opportunity to streamline their plans instead.

“We play practice matches before every major event and injuries can happen any time, even during training. What happens then? This event, on the other hand, will be a competitive one and I think we should take it as a test of our preparation. There will be over a month left after this for the Asian Games. We should not be too bothered and focus on delivering our best here,” HI president Dilip Tirkey stressed on Tuesday.

With only the winner of the Asian Games qualifying for the Paris Olympics, India will have to take the qualifiers route. And while the teams for both Olympic Qualifiers — in Spain and Pakistan — will be drawn later, Tirkey was clear that India will travel to either country if needed.

“We hope that need doesn’t arise and we get the job done in Hangzhou. But, if for some reason, we fail to qualify, then wherever it happens, we will definitely go,” he said.

FIH president Tayyab Ikram went a step ahead and claimed that most coaches were happy to be part of it.

“I say this from a high-performance point of view that most of the coaches are happy. There is one person who you cannot satisfy because he has already made other plans. But if you think that this will not help and that all these teams will stay home before the Asian Games, I’m sorry to say that will not happen. Some of these sides will play even after the Asian Champions Trophy,” he remarked.

A big concern for any new infrastructure has been its proper usage but HI treasurer Sekar Manoharan revealed that the Senior Nationals will be played here later this year and also let it slip that Chennai would be one of the venues after the possible revival of the Hockey India League next year.

Ikram clarified that the new penalty corner rules were still in trial stage and mainly focused on players’ safety. The new rules will not be experimented during this tournament.

“We have changed quite a few rules over the years — we did away with the restart, the offside. Let this thing go on trial first,” he said.