Jakarta: With only three days remaining in the tournament, Jakarta is heating up to host one of the most anticipated hockey tournaments in the calendar year. The players have unpacked their bags, checked into the village and have started training on the pitches. From the looks of it, they are here to win. Both Pool A and Pool B of the Men’s and Women’s Event looks competitive, but the winner takes it all, a place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Elisabeth Fuerst, the Event Director seemed very excited about the Asian Games 2018. She said “This is the most important Asian hockey event in the 4-year cycle. Not only does it happen once in four years, it is also the Olympic Qualifier; The winners of both the men and women events qualify directly for Tokyo 2020. I am also very excited about the growing hockey family within Asia with this year’s Asian Games featuring 12 men and 10 women teams, the most teams in all Asian Games. This shows the growing popularity of the sport of hockey within Asia.” She added, “The preparations are done and the venue is all set to host a spectacular event”.
Complimentary to that, the general vibe reveals that the players are eagerly excited to get on the pitch to showcase their several month-long training that they have put in for the Asian Games. They seem to be working hard to perfect their penalty corners, counter-attacking strategies, and get attuned to the humid environments of Jakarta.
Thailand and Kazakhstan will inaugurate the Hockey Event on the 19th with their first match that is scheduled at 14:00 local time and it has all the fans, coaches and the teams on edge. India are the defending champions for the men’s event while South Korea are reigning title holders for the women’s event at the Asian Games.
Everyone is waiting to see what the podium looks like at the end of the 18th Asian Games Jakarta Palembang 2018.
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