Bhopal Gets the Women’s Asian Champions Trophy: India to Open Title Defence Against Malaysia on 19 November

Bhopal is about to get its first taste of international hockey, and the hosts couldn’t have asked for a better way to start.

The Asian Hockey Federation has announced the schedule for the Madhya Pradesh Women’s Asian Champions Trophy Bhopal 2026, running 19-28 November at the new hockey stadium at the International Sports Complex in Nathu Barkheda. Six teams are in: India, Japan, China, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea. It’s a straight round robin, everyone plays everyone once, and the top four go through to the semifinals.

India open their title defence against Malaysia on 19 November, after the opening ceremony. The day’s first game is China against Thailand, so the tournament starts with a proper opener before the hosts take the stage. From there India’s road is set: South Korea on 21 November, Thailand on 22 November, China on 24 November and Japan on 25 November. The 20th, 23rd and 26th are rest days, which matters in a tournament this compressed. Five league games in seven days is a grind, and the teams that manage their squads best usually last longest.

India come in as three-time champions, having won in 2016, 2023 and 2024, and fresh from Asian Games gold. That makes them favourites, but this field doesn’t hand out easy games. Japan have won this tournament twice, China were runners-up as recently as 2024, and South Korea are always dangerous in a one-off knockout game. The classification game for fifth and sixth and both semifinals are on 27 November, with the bronze-medal game and the final on 28 November.

For our money, the league game to circle is India against Japan on 25 November. It’s the last round of league games, it’s likely to decide semifinal seedings, and it’s the kind of game that tells you who is really peaking. But first, Malaysia on opening night. Defending champions, home crowd, new stadium. That’s a night worth turning up for.