Asia Cup Men's Hockey Trivia!

This piece was published in Sportskeeda

Pakistan have won the Asia Cup on most occasions – three times (1982, 1985 and 1989)
    
Korea did not feature in the inaugural edition in 1982
 
Pakistan became the first team to retain the Asia Cup crown in 1985 at Dhaka
 
India’s final 7-2 win over Korea in 2007 is the biggest winning margin in an Asia Cup final

India and Pakistan were placed in the same pool of the Asia Cup only on two occasions - 2003 and 2009 editions

Six India players were banned for roughing up the umpire after they disputed a goal allowed by him during the 1985 Asia Cup final against Pakistan in Dhaka

India, Pakistan, Malaysia, China and Bangladesh are five teams that have taken part in every Asia Cup so far

India has finished runners-up in the Asia Cup on most occasions - four times
 
Korea took the third spot in Asia Cup most times – thrice

India’s 20-0 win vs Sri Lanka at the 2003 edition, Pakistan’s 20-0 win over Thailand and Malaysia’s 20-0 win over Thailand at the 1982 edition are the biggest victory margins in the Asia Cup so far

India have beaten Pakistan only once in five meetings – the only win came when they beat their arch-rivals 4-2 in the 2003 final in Kuala Lumpur to corner glory

Kuala Lumpur is the only city to host the Asia Cup twice (1999 and 2003)

Korea became the second team after Pakistan to retain the Asia Cup crown in 1999

Malaysia is the only country to host the Asia Cup thrice (Kuala Lumpur staged the 1999 and 2003 editions, while Kuantan hosted in it 2009)

At the 2007 Asia Cup final in Chennai, the Korean coach took his players off the pitch for a few minutes after they disputed a goal being disallowed by the umpire

India became the 3rd team after Pakistan and Korea to retain the Asia Cup crown in 2007

Pakistan completed a hat-trick of Asia Cup triumphs at the 1989 edition

The 2007 Asia Cup saw most teams participating – 11 teams

Bangladesh has taken part in every Asia Cup so far, but their best showing has been a 5th place finish in the inaugural edition in 1982

Malaysian despite being a strong Asian hockey force has managed only a solitary podium finish (3rd) in the 2007 edition although they have reached the semifinals on quite a few occasions

Korea did not feature in the inaugural Asia Cup, but has made a podium finish in rest seven Asia Cup events – thrice winning it, runners-up once and bagging the third place once

Thailand has the dubious distinction of conceding most goals by any nation in any single Asia Cup event- they leaked 62 goals in the 1994 edition

A whopping 217 goals were scored in the 2007 Asia Cup in Chennai – the highest in any edition so far

The least number of goals in Asia Cup came during the 1989 edition in New Delhi when only 62 goals were scored

India failed to make a podium finish for the first time in the 2009 Asia Cup when they finished fifth

Bangladesh has conceded most goals in Asia Cup – 140 goals from all eight editions

Pakistan have scored most goals in Asia Cup -267 goals

Pakistan’s last Asia Cup win came in 1989 when they completed a hat-trick of title wins

Both India and Pakistan hold the record of scoring most goals in a single Asia Cup event – Pakistan 51 goals in 1982 edition and India 51 goals in 2007 edition

Pakistan’s hold on the winning trophy was halted at the 1994 Asia Cup as Korea won it for the first time

India’s 9-1 win over Japan in 1985 Asia Cup is the biggest victory margin in the semifinal stage

India became the first team to lose a final as host nation at the 1989 edition

Pakistan failed to make a podium finish for the first time at the 2007 Asia Cup