Asian Champions Trophy: Young, old aim for gold

Pakistan’s Muhammad Ammad. Pic/Ashwin Ferro; (right) Korea’s Nam Yong Lee

The seventh edition of the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) hockey tournament will see an interesting mix of players competing for the top prize. While Pakistani debutant Muhammad Ammad, 16, the youngest player at this tournament, will try to help his team win it for a record fourth time (India and Pakistan have won the title three times each), Korea's skipper and the oldest member at this edition, Nam Yong Lee, 39, will want his team to defend the title they won in 2021 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. India's hardworking midfielder, Manpreet Singh, will be the most experienced player on view here with a whopping 335 international caps under his belt while as many as 13 players - three each from Pakistan and Korea, and seven from China - will be making their international debut on the brand new Poligras Paris GT Zero artificial turf that has been laid at the 8,000-capacity Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium here at a steep cost of Rs 9 crore.

Bomman, the mascot at Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium. Pic/Ashwin Ferro

Bomman and the Elephant Whisperers

Just as the entertainment industry often uses sportspersons and their biographies as themes for their projects, the sports world also draws inspiration from the media world. A prime example of this is the mascot of ACT Chennai 2023 - Bomman, the Asian elephant. Named after the male mahout, who features in the Oscar-winning Netflix documentary, Elephant Whisperers, Bomman is a cute blue coloured character dressed in an orange and yellow outfit, holding a hockey stick in one hand and a ball in his trunk. "The Asian elephant represents qualities such as strength, intelligence and teamwork which are attributes that underscore the key characteristic that athletes should possess," the official tournament brochure explains. Bomman is omnipresent - pasted prominently across billboards, walls, buildings, buses and of course across the length and breadth of the Mayor Radhakrishnan hockey stadium complex. A Bomman soft toy, if made available by the organisers, promises to be a sure-shot hit with kids.

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A team bus at the ACT 2023 with the Goal Podu message splashed across it

Yellow fever, a reminder of Chennai Super Kings!

The colour theme for the ACT 2023 is bright yellow and though there may be an auspicious religious association with this shade here, one can't help but associate it with the most successful Indian Premier League cricket franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), which also hails from this part of the world. Right from the seats in the swanky new Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium to buses ferrying the players and the attractive and eye-catching livery surrounding the venue, everything is bright yellow. Interestingly, while CSK's anthem is "Whistle podu", ACT's tagline is "Goal podu."