Indian women's hockey team to open Asia Cup 2025 campaign against Thailand
New Delhi: The Indian women's hockey team is set to kick off its campaign in the Women's Asia Cup 2025 against Thailand on September 5, 2025, at the Gongshu Canal Sports Park Field Hockey Field, the 2022 Asian Games hockey venue, in Hangzhou, China.
The Indian team has been placed in Pool B, alongside defending Asia Cup champions Japan, Thailand, and Singapore, while Pool A consists of hosts China, Korea, Malaysia, and Chinese Taipei.
The tournament is set to take place in Hangzhou, China, from September 5 to 14, 2025. Team India, which claimed the bronze medal in the previous edition, will be eyeing the top podium finish this time.
A victory not only brings continental glory but also guarantees a direct qualification to the 2026 Women's FIH Hockey World Cup, as the Asia Cup champions earn an automatic berth in the prestigious quadrennial event.
Speaking on the tournament, India captain Salima Tete said, 'We are excited to begin our campaign in the Women's Asia Cup. Being placed in Pool B alongside defending champions Japan will test our skills and character from the very start.
"However, facing them in the pool stage will be a great opportunity to measure ourselves early in the tournament. Our focus will be on playing smart, disciplined hockey and taking it one match at a time. The ultimate goal is to lift the trophy and earn a direct spot in the 2026 Women's FIH Hockey World Cup,' she added.
Echoing Salima's sentiments, vice-captain Navneet Kaur said, 'It will be a challenging tournament with Asia's top teams competing with each other, but we see it as a chance to bring out our best right from the first whistle. We've been training with intensity and purpose, and we will aim to execute our plans on the field during the tournament.
Playing against Japan in the group stage gives us an early look at high-pressure hockey, which can only help us grow stronger as a unit. We're determined to make this Asia Cup campaign count and make the country proud,' she said.
Notably, the Indian women's hockey team last won the Asia Cup back in 2017, when they defeated China in the final to lift the title.
India's schedule for Asia Cup 2025:
Sept 5, 2025: India vs Thailand
Sept 6, 2025: Japan vs India
Sept 8, 2025: India vs Singapore
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
15 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
‘Defence may be the wrong word': Shashi Tharoor points at ‘China factor' in Pakistan conflict
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said on Thursday that 81 percent of Pakistan's defence equipment comes from China, making the country an 'impossible factor' to ignore in the conflict with Islamabad. Tharoor, who is leading a parliamentary delegation to the US to expose Islamabad's nexus with terror after India's Operation Sindoor, said that New Delhi-Beijing relations were making good progress till last month's conflict with Pakistan. 'I'm not going to mince my words, but we are aware that China has immense stakes in Pakistan," PTI quoted Tharoor as telling the representatives of think tanks at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC. Tharoor pointed out that the largest single project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and that 81 percent of Pakistani defence equipment is from China. 'Defence may be the wrong word here. Offence in many ways……China is an absolutely impossible factor to ignore in what has been our confrontation with Pakistan,' Tharoor said. Shashi Tharoor told the gathering that India had seen good progress in its relationship with China after tensions since the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes. The Thiruvananthapuram MP added that during Operation Sindoor and the conflict with Pakistan, New Delhi saw a very different China in terms of its support for Islamabad, even on the UN Security Council. 'We have no illusions about what the challenges are in our neighbourhood, but I want to remind you all that India has consistently chosen a path of keeping open channels of communication, even with our adversaries. We have tried as much as possible to focus on development, on growth, on trade. Our trade with China is still at record levels. It's not that we are adopting a posture of hostility, but we would be naive not to be aware of these other currents around,' he said. The UN Security Council, on April 25, issued a press statement on the 'terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir' after the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The statement had condemned the attack in "the strongest terms' but did not mention The Resistance Front as Pakistan, which is a non-permanent member of the council, got it removed with China's help. 'The members of the Security Council underlined the need to hold perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of this reprehensible act of terrorism accountable and bring them to justice,' the press statement had said. Shashi Tharoor was asked about the Chinese military equipment that Pakistan used in the conflict during an earlier interaction at the Council on Foreign Relations. The delegation head said that when India saw what the Pakistanis were attempting to do using Chinese technology, for instance, the 'kill chain' that the Chinese specialise in, where the radar, GPS, planes and missiles are all linked together and they react instantly, 'we simply did things in a different way. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to hit' 11 Pakistani airfields, and "we wouldn't have been able to breach the Chinese-supplied air defences. 'So it's clear that assessments were taking place while the fighting was happening, and we were recalibrating our strategies in order to end as effectively as we were able to end,' Tharoor said.
Hindustan Times
18 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Ponting names Virat Kohli's replacement in India XI vs England, doesn't want KL Rahul to open: 'It makes life easier'
India will begin a new era in Test cricket on June 20 when the side takes on England in the first Test of the five-match series at Headingley. Shubman Gill will lead the side that will be without Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, with both retiring from the format last month. While Gill's captaincy justifiably be in focus, another major point of discussion is Kohli's replacement at the no.4 spot. Kohli took the position from the great Sachin Tendulkar when he called time on his career in 2013, and held the role successfully for the next 12 years. According to former Australia captain and multiple World Cup-winner Ricky Ponting, Gill should succeed Kohli in the role. Ponting believes that taking over the no.4 role will make it easier for Gill to lead the Indian team as well. Interestingly, Ponting doesn't want KL Rahul to open the innings. "I think (Sai) Sudarshan and (Yashasvi) Jaiswal will open the batting (in England) as Sudarshan just looks like a class player to me and technically I think he could do well at Test level," Ponting told The ICC Review. "They'll have two pretty young opening batters, so they might look to go for someone that's got a bit more experience at No.3. 'Whether that's KL (Rahul) or Karun (Nair) at No.3, and then Shubman might end up being that No.4 player, which will probably make life for him a little bit easier as a captain as well.' Ponting believes that opening the batting or playing at no.3 – which had been Gill's designated role in Tests so far – will put pressure on the youngster. 'Not having to be opening or batting at No.3 as a young captain might make it easier. Their top five will probably be Sudarshan, Jaiswal, KL, Gill and Karun Nair for the start of the England series,' said the Aussie great. KL Rahul, meanwhile, smashed a century for India A while opening the batting during the second warm-up match against England Lions on Friday. Rahul scored 116 after India A batted first, with Dhruv Jurel also scoring a half-century. Rahul had been opening the innings for the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but was shifted to middle-order when the former captain linked up with the side ahead of the second Test.
The Hindu
22 minutes ago
- The Hindu
IND vs ENG Test series: K.L. Rahul signals top-order readiness with warm-up hundred
K.L. Rahul's composed hundred in the ongoing second unofficial test against England Lions will bring much relief to the India team management ahead of the five-test series in England. Partnering with Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the batting order, Rahul produced a chanceless knock of 116 in Northampton on a lively track in overcast conditions on Friday (June 6, 2025). Touchdown UK 🛬#TeamIndia have arrived for the five-match Test series against England 🙌# — BCCI (@BCCI) June 7, 2025 India, under new captain Shubman Gill, have been left with gaping holes in their top order after opener Rohit Sharma and stalwart Virat Kohli quit test cricket last month. While Rahul, who can bat practically anywhere in the lineup, is likely to succeed Rohit as Jaiswal's opening partner, either Gill or Karun Nair is likely to fill the void of Kohli at number four. Nair, who played the last of his six tests in 2017, smashed a double hundred in the first unofficial test in Canterbury. 'We haven't really decided on the (batting order), we still have some time,' Gill had said in his pre-departure press conference in Mumbai. 'We will be playing an intra-squad match and we will be having a 10-day camp in London. So we still have a little bit of time and I think we can decide on the batting order once we go there.' The five-test series begins in Leeds on June 20 Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Indian cricket team arrived in the United Kingdom for its much-anticipated five-match Test series against England, starting later this month. The series is part of the 2025-27 ICC World Test Championship cycle. Team India departed for the U.K. from Mumbai on Friday night. A new-look Indian side will be led by newly-appointed skipper Shubman Gill, marking the beginning of a new era following the recent retirements of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Several Indian players had already reached England as part of the India A squad currently engaged in a three-match unofficial Test series against England Lions. 'It's good to be a part of the Indian cricket team, especially in a Test series. Welcome to the UK,' newcomer Sai Sudharsan said in a video posted by the BCCI on 'X'. The first Test will be played in Leeds from June 20, followed by matches in Birmingham (July 2–6), Lord's (July 10–14), Manchester (July 23–27), and The Oval (August 4–8).
