Asian Champions Trophy Field Set: Bangladesh In as Sixth Team, India Face Five Tests in Jalandhar
Two days before the first whistle in Jalandhar, the Asian Champions Trophy field is settled, and it’s a six-team race. India, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, China and Bangladesh will contest the title from Tuesday 27 October, with Bangladesh taking the sixth place after Pakistan withdrew when their neutral-venue request was turned down.
That change matters for how the tournament plays out. Six teams means five league games each, no easy week, and the top four reach the semi-finals in Mohali. Bangladesh walk straight into the hardest possible start: defending champions India, at home, on opening night in Jalandhar. But they also walk in with nothing to lose, and opening nights have a habit of producing shocks.
India’s road is laid out now, and it’s a proper test across a week. They open against Bangladesh on 27 October, then face China on 29 October, Japan on 30 October, Malaysia on 1 November and South Korea on 2 November, all in Jalandhar at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium. The semi-finals move to Mohali on 4 November, with the medal matches on 5 November at the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium.
The champions come in with history on their side. India have won this tournament five times, in 2011, 2016, 2018, 2023 and 2024, and Harmanpreet Singh leads a squad built around the core that won Asian Games gold. Krishan Bahadur Pathak is back in goal, and the message from the squad announcement on 13 October was continuity: same spine, same belief, home crowd behind them.
There’s good news for the fans too. Hockey India has confirmed free entry for all spectators across the tournament, with registration through ticketgenie.in. Jalandhar should be packed for the opener, and a full house for India against Bangladesh is exactly the start this tournament needs.
For the rest of Asia, the maths is simple. Beat one of the big three early and the semi-final race opens up fast. Malaysia arrive believing they can push anyone after their camp in Perth, Japan were the first team on the ground in Mohali, and South Korea are always dangerous in a short tournament. Bangladesh might be the sixth team on paper, but nobody in Jalandhar will be taking Tuesday night lightly.
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