Asian Champions Trophy Opening Day: Three Games, One Very Loud Night in Jalandhar

Six days out, and opening day is the bit nobody’s really priced in yet. Three games in Jalandhar on Tuesday 27 October, and by about half nine that night the whole Asian Champions Trophy table will already have a shape.

The running order

It starts early. Malaysia v China at 1:00 pm IST (12:30 pm PKT) at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium. Then Japan v Korea at 3:15 pm IST (2:45 pm PKT). The opening ceremony slots in before the hosts play, and India v Bangladesh closes the day at 7:00 pm IST (6:30 pm PKT) under lights.

That’s a proper first day. Not a soft launch.

Malaysia v China is quietly the hardest one to call

Malaysia arrive as Asian Games silver medallists, beaten 5-1 by India in that final on 3 October. China are the side everyone keeps underrating until they’re 2-0 up from penalty corners and the game has gone strange.

First games of tournaments are cagey by nature. This one might not be. Both sides know the league stage is only five matches long, and a slow start in a six-team group is a hole you don’t climb out of easily.

Japan v Korea: no warm-up, straight in

There’s no gentle opener for either of these two. Japan and Korea play each other first up, in the afternoon heat, and the loser is immediately chasing India and Malaysia with four games left.

For our money this is the game of the day for the neutral. Two organised, fit, counter-attacking sides who don’t give away cheap corners. One mistake probably settles it.

Then the hosts, and the noise

India v Bangladesh at night is the fixture the whole opening day is built around. India are defending champions, five-time winners, and playing a home tournament in Punjab, where hockey isn’t a pastime, it’s an inheritance.

Bangladesh are here because Pakistan withdrew and the AHF called them up from the reserve list. That’s not a footnote, that’s their team talk written for them. Nobody expects anything from them in Jalandhar, and teams with nothing expected of them are annoying to play in game one.

India should win. They should win well. But the first night of a home tournament has tripped up better sides than this one, and Harmanpreet Singh’s group will know the crowd expects a statement, not just three points. (More on Harmanpreet’s Punjab homecoming here.)

What the week looks like after that

The league stage runs in Jalandhar through Monday 2 November, with rest days on 28 and 31 October and 3 November. India’s other league games are all 7:00 pm IST starts: China on 29 October, Japan on 30 October, Malaysia on 1 November and Korea on 2 November. The tournament then moves to Mohali, with the semi-finals on Wednesday 4 November and the bronze and gold medal matches on Thursday 5 November.

Entry to every match is free with a digital pass, which we covered in our free-entry guide. If you’re anywhere near Jalandhar next Tuesday, honestly, there’s no excuse. Full tournament background is in our Asian Champions Trophy preview, and scores will land in the Live Centre through the week.