Women’s ACT Bhopal: Free Entry, Star Sports and Hotstar as Bhopal Gets Ready for 19 November
Here’s the best news for anyone planning to watch the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy in Bhopal: it won’t cost you anything to get in.
Entry is free for spectators for all matches at the tournament, which runs from 19 to 28 November at Bhopal’s new International Sports Complex in Nathu Barkheda. Madhya Pradesh sports minister Vishwas Sarang confirmed it this week while unveiling the tournament logo and trophy and flagging off the trophy tour.
The stadium holds around 5,000, and every game is under floodlights in a day-night format, three matches a day. For a city hosting its first ever international hockey tournament, that’s a proper welcome mat.
How to watch from home
Can’t get to Bhopal? The matches will be telecast live on the Star Sports Network and Hotstar in 166 countries. That’s a big stage for a women’s continental tournament, and it means the whole event, not just India’s games, gets seen.
It’s a step up from the last edition in Rajgir in 2024, when India matches ran on DD Sports and Sony Ten 1 with SonyLIV streaming. This time the full tournament has a named broadcast home before a ball has been hit.
Opening day, 19 November
Three games, all times IST:
- China v Thailand, 1pm IST (12:30pm PKT), the tournament opener, Asia’s top-ranked side first up
- Japan v South Korea, 3:15pm IST (2:45pm PKT)
- India v Malaysia, 7pm IST (6:30pm PKT), the hosts open their title defence after the opening ceremony
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will inaugurate the tournament and the first phase of the International Sports Complex.
A whole month of hockey in Madhya Pradesh
The trophy tour is already on the road, running from 11 to 17 November across all 10 administrative divisions of Madhya Pradesh, including Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Chambal, Sagar, Rewa, Shahdol, Jabalpur and Narmadapuram. Ministers, MPs and MLAs will welcome the trophy at different stops, with rallies and awareness programmes involving students, young people and sportspersons.
Sarang said November would be dedicated to hockey-related activities, including a friendly match between the Indian national team and the Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy team. Players from state hockey academies and feeder centres will also get to interact with the Indian and international players.
There’ll be stalls at the venue showcasing traditional tribal cuisine, handicrafts and folk arts, so the tournament doubles as a showcase for Madhya Pradesh itself.
Around 150 players from India, Japan, China, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand will take part. Six teams, one round robin, top four to the semi-finals on 27 November, medals on 28 November.
For our money, the free entry is the smartest move of the whole build-up. A new stadium, a defending champion side fresh off an Asian Games gold, and no ticket barrier. Bhopal should fill that place. And if it does, the pictures beamed out on Star Sports and Hotstar will do more for women’s hockey in India than any poster campaign.
