ACT 2026 Could Be the Last Dance for Mandeep, Jarmanpreet, Rohidas and Nilakanta
Tomorrow’s Asian Champions Trophy opener in Jalandhar might carry more weight than anyone first realised. Reports in India say the tournament could be the last time four of the country’s most decorated players pull on the blue shirt.
Mandeep Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas and Nilakanta Sharma have all been part of India’s Olympic and Asian Games medal-winning sides. Now, with preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics gathering pace, Hockey India’s top brass are said to want a smooth transition, and the ACT in Punjab could be the quartet’s final assignment. The four wanted to carry on, according to the report, but the call from above is about building the next cycle while the team is already qualified for LA after winning Asian Games gold.
If that is how it plays out, what a stage to bow out on. International hockey is back in Punjab after 17 years, the first time since the Gold Cup in 2009, and more than half of this India squad comes from the state. Harmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Jarmanpreet, Rajinder Singh, Hardik Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Dilpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh all get to play in front of family and friends, in the land that produced Balbir Singh Senior, Udham Singh, Prithipal Singh and Surjit Singh. Sansarpur village in Jalandhar alone has produced 14 Olympians. Head coach Craig Fulton summed up the mood simply: the team can’t wait to feed off the home crowd, because there’s nothing like playing a tournament in India.
India go in as favourites, and rightly so. They’re the most successful team in ACT history with five titles (2011, 2016, 2018, 2023, 2024), they’re the highest-ranked side in the field at world No. 8, and they kept the core of the Asian Games gold-medal squad. Krishan Bahadur Pathak is back in goal, young defender Amandeep Lakra and midfielder Aditya Lalage get another chance to prove themselves, and the forward line still has Abhishek, Sukhjeet and Dilpreet to worry defences.
One man already won’t be there. Manpreet Singh was ruled out on Monday with a calf injury picked up in training, and Vivek Sagar Prasad has taken his place. That news, broken by captain Harmanpreet at the captains’ press conference, only adds to the sense that this is a tournament of endings and beginnings at the same time.
The action starts on Tuesday at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar. Malaysia take on China at 12:30pm PKT, Japan face South Korea at 2:45pm PKT, and India open against Bangladesh at 6:50 PM PKT. The league stage runs to 2 November, then it all moves to Mohali, with the semi-finals on 4 November and the medal matches on 5 November.
Malaysia, the side India beat 5-1 in the Asian Games final, look the biggest threat, and Japan pushed India hard before losing 0-2 in their recent Asian Games meeting. But if this really is the last dance for four Indian greats, the hosts will want to send them off the only way that fits: with another trophy, at home.
Related links:
https://sportscursor.com/manpreet-singh-ruled-out-asian-champions-trophy-vivek-sagar-prasad-26-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/asian-champions-trophy-2026-opening-day-card-india-bangladesh-26-october-2026/
https://sportscursor.com/bangladesh-final-18-asian-champions-trophy-2026-gerhard-rach-squad/
https://sportscursor.com/live/
https://sportscursor.com/rankings/
