India claims the QNET 4^th Asian Men’s Champions Trophy 2016

The Tournament proved a platform for building strong relationship with Asian countries

INDIA (October 30, 2016): India lifted QNET 4^th Asian Men’s Champions Trophy 2016. Nikkin starred handsomely to help Indian win the Asian Championship for the second time.

India opened their account through Rupinder Pal Singh in the 18th minute who converted a penalty corner to hand them the lead. Five minutes later, Yousuf Affan capped off a wonderful play that involved Sardar Singh to double the lead. However, Pakistan cut down the lead to 2-1 by the close of the third quarter. Through Ali Shaan, Pakistan equalised in the 38th minute but Nikkin struck in a fabulous goal in the final quarter to score the winner.

The Asian Champions Trophy for the first time got a title sponsor since its inception six years ago. Before the start of the tournament, The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) announced the Global Direct Selling Company, QNET as the title sponsor for the 4^thAsian Men’s Champions Trophy. The tournament was known as QNET 4^th Asian Men’s Champions Trophy 2016.

The Men’s Asian Champions Trophy saw six of the best teams from the region compete for the title. It witnessed India Malaysia, Pakistan, China, Korea and Japan who battled out on the field to secure the title less than a year ahead of the 2017 Asia Cup, the continental championship which doubles as a World Cup Qualifier. India and Pakistan have so far been the most successful teams in Asian Hockey Champions Trophy with Pakistan bringing home the trophy in both 2012 and 2013, while India was the inaugural winner in 2011 and 2016 which concluded today.

Over the eleven days of the event, the teams played each other in a round robin, followed by semi-finals and placement matches. The 18-member Indian squad was be led by goalkeeper P.R Sreejesh while 24-year-old midfielder Manpreet Singh was his deputy for the tournament.