Pakistan will be part of the six-nation Men’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament to be hosted in Punjab next month, setting the stage for another high-profile India-Pakistan sporting contest on Indian soil.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann confirmed Pakistan’s participation on Monday, saying the country has been permitted to compete under the Union government’s policy allowing sporting engagements involving multiple nations. The tournament will be played from October 27 to November 5, with matches scheduled at hockey venues in Jalandhar and Mohali.
The participation of Pakistan adds considerable significance to the tournament, particularly for Punjab, where hockey has deep sporting and cultural roots. A meeting between the traditional rivals is also expected to draw substantial attention from hockey supporters across the region, although the tournament’s final match schedule and fixtures will determine when the two sides meet.
The Men’s Asian Champions Trophy brings together six of Asia’s leading hockey nations — India, Pakistan, China, Japan, Malaysia and Korea. India will enter the competition as the defending champion after securing the title in both 2023 and 2024, underlining its strong recent record in the continental competition.
For Indian hockey, the tournament provides an important opportunity to test the team against leading Asian opponents on home ground. For Pakistan, participation in the event represents a significant return to competitive hockey action in India under the framework governing multi-lateral sporting engagements between the two countries.
Mann’s confirmation has also brought the focus back to Punjab’s longstanding association with hockey. Jalandhar has historically been regarded as one of India’s major centres of hockey, while Mohali has emerged as an important venue for international sporting events. Hosting the tournament across the two cities gives Punjab an opportunity to showcase its sporting infrastructure as well as its passionate hockey following.
The prospect of India and Pakistan sharing the same tournament is likely to add another layer of interest to an already competitive championship. Encounters between the two sides have traditionally generated enormous attention, with hockey remaining one of the sports where the rivalry has a long and distinguished history.
Hockey India Secretary General Bhola Nath Singh has also underlined the cordial relationship between the hockey federations of the two countries. His remarks reflect the sporting dimension of the tournament, where competition on the field is accompanied by longstanding institutional ties between the two hockey establishments.
The Asian Champions Trophy is therefore set to be more than a contest for continental supremacy. With six established hockey nations converging on Punjab, the tournament will offer Indian fans the opportunity to watch top-level Asian hockey at home while placing Jalandhar and Mohali at the centre of the sport’s regional calendar.
For Punjab, however, the arrival of Pakistan will give the championship an added dimension. The tournament is expected to combine sporting rivalry, hockey tradition and international competition, with the India-Pakistan presence certain to remain one of its biggest talking points as the October 27 opening approaches.
