Hockey: Pakistan pull out of Asia Cup 2025 in India over “security concerns”
Bangladesh and Kazakhstan set to feature in Asia Cup 2025
The eight nations that make up the lineup at the 2025 Asia Cup have been changed up slightly following Pakistan and Oman’s decisions to withdraw from the competition, which will run between August 29 and September 7 in Bihar. India are the defending champions and favourites according to the best online betting sites.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation communicated its intention for their team to pull out of the tournament to the International Hockey Federation (IHF) and Asia Hockey Federation (AHF) on Tuesday, citing “security concerns” as the primary reason. Following confirmation of the withdrawal, Dilip Kumar Tirkey took to the media to reaffirm that:
“Asia Cup is a very important tournament in Asian hockey. Pakistan is not coming to this tournament due to security reasons. India never refused them; they are refusing to come all by themselves due to security reasons...Oman team has also withdrawn due to their personal issues with their Government.”
Bangladesh have now been confirmed as the nation that will replace Pakistan at the 2025 Asia Cup, while Kazakhstan will take the place of Oman, whose reasoning for opting out of the tournament was purely a financial one.
Both replacement teams were called up due to their finishes at the AHF Cup in Jakarta earlier this year. The Bangladeshis came third in the tournament, losing to eventual winners Oma, while the Kazakhs finished in fourth.
Pakistan have won the Asia Cup three times and were among the favourites this year. The winner of this year’s competition will secure direct entry to the 2026 FIH Hockey World Cup to be hosted in the Netherlands and Belgium next year.
Asia Cup groups and India team announcement
The 2025 Asia Cup will feature eight teams divided into two pools. The action gets underway on August 29 with Malaysia taking on Bangladesh before hosts India lock horns with China in match two later the same day. The top two teams from each group progress.
Group A: Indian, Japan, China and Kazakhstan
Group B: Malaysia, Korea, Bangladesh and Chinese Taipei
India team for Asia Cup 2025:
Goalkeepers: Krishan B Pathak, Suraj Karkera
Defenders: Sumit, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sanjay, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh
Midfielders: Rajinder Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad
Forwards: Mandeep Singh, Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh, Dilpreet Singh
