Pakistan faces wrath for ‘supporting’ China during Asian Champions Trophy final

The Indian men’s hockey team reiterated its hegemony in Asia by winning a second consecutive Asian Champions Trophy title on Tuesday. Although India were head and shoulders above every team they faced throughout the tournament, they were made to work by home favourites China in the final. Despite the fact that China were the lowest ranked team in the tournament and India were the highest by some distance, the hosts put up a dogged defence, backed by a raucous crowd in Hulunbuir, a hotbed for the sport in the country.
Amid the crowd was the Pakistan hockey team as well, who had beaten South Korea on penalties and thus secured their first third-place finish in the tournament since 2018. There were many on social media who noted that the players and coaching staff were holding Chinese flags and some even had it painted on to their faces. Pakistan ended up getting some flack for this gesture.
India and Pakistan have been the two most dominant teams in the Asian Champions Trophy. Pakistan had won two of the first three editions of the tournament in 2011, 2012 and 2013. They have however failed to reach the final since they were joint-winners with India in the 2018 tournament, having finished fourth in 2021 and fifth in 2023. In this period, India pulled away and their five title wins now puts them two ahead of Pakistan’s three.
For India, the Asian Champions Trophy title defence comes shortly on the heels of them winning a second consecutive Olympic medal for the first time since 1972. India had defeated Spain 2-1 to win bronze at the 2024 Paris Olympics, having won bronze at Tokyo 2020 as well. Interestingly, the Asian Champions Trophy win last year came as a precursor to the Asian Games, where India won gold and secured qualification to the Paris Olympics.
India started off this year’s tournament by beating China 3-0. This was followed by a 5-1 win over Japan and an 8-1 hammering of Malaysia. They faced tougher opposition after that, beating South Korea 3-1 and Pakistan 2-1. India then beat South Korea 3-1 in the semi-final and defended their title by beating China 1-0 in the final.