"Always Excited To Play In India": Pakistan Men's Hockey Coach Sheikh Shahnaz

Pakistan's Men's Hockey Coach Sheikh Shahnaz arrived at Chennai with his team on Tuesday to participate in the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy 2023 where he said that the Pakistan team are always excited to play in India. The arrival of India's neighbouring nations Pakistan and China in Chennai on Tuesday night energised the city's atmosphere ahead of the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023. While the China Men's Hockey Team directly flew to the host city, Pakistan Men's Hockey Team entered India through the Attari-Wagah border in Amritsar, from where they took a flight to Chennai via Bengaluru.

Talking about the preparations for the tournament and playing in India, Pakistan's Coach Sheikh Shahnaz said as quoted by Hockey India, “We are always excited to play in India and it definitely adds to the pressure, but good quality players know how to perform and deliver under pressure, hence, we are hopeful of a good show on and off the field.”

The Asian Champions Trophy Chennai 2023 is set to be played from August 3rd to August 12th. The tournament promises intense battles as six teams – India, Pakistan, Korea, China, Malaysia, and Japan will lock horns with each other, as per Hockey India's release.

Pakistan, who have won the Asian Champions Trophy title thrice, are the most successful team in the history of the tournament alongside India, and they will now be aiming to win the elusive trophy for the record fourth time.

Pakistan will open their campaign against Malaysia on 3rd August.

“We are here to play positive hockey and I believe that India and Pakistan should play more and more matches against each other as it will help both teams to take their respective games to the next level. Also, the Asian Champions Trophy will