A new beginning

Dhaka, December 13

The Indian men’s hockey team, the Olympics bronze winners, will start a new cycle with a bunch of youngsters aiming to prove their mettle when they begin their Asian Champions Trophy campaign against South Korea here tomorrow.

India have won this prestigious event thrice since its inception in 2011, winning the previous two editions in 2016 (Kuantan, Malaysia) and 2018 (Muscat, Oman). After opening against South Korea, they will play Bangladesh on December 15. Their third match will be against arch-rivals Pakistan on December 17 and on December 19, they take on Japan. The semifinals and final will be held on December 21 and 22, respectively. — PTI

Punjab in quarterfinals of hockey Nationals

Pune: Punjab became the first team to enter the quarterfinals of the senior men’s hockey Nationals after beating Andhra Pradesh 7-1 here today. Punjab are unbeaten in Pool D. With six points in their kitty, Punjab qualified for the knockout stage. Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Rupinder Pal Singh (2nd minute), Lovepreet Jainth (5th), Ranjot Singh (19th), Sudarshan Singh (29th), Parampreet Singh (40th), Sankalp Singh (42nd) and Sudarshan scored for Punjab. Karnataka and Chandigarh remained unbeaten and on course for the quarterfinals after registering their second wins. Karnataka downed Puducherry 4-1 in Pool C and Chandigarh beat Manipur 1-0 in Pool E. pti