Asian Games - Women 2025/26

Asian Games women's field hockey tournament The women’s field hockey tournament at the Asian Games is a quadrennial continental event rather than a league, meaning it carries no promotion or relegation structure. Participation is determined by host nation status, previous tournament performance, and continental qualifiers. The current edition features ten teams divided into two pools of five, with the top two from each group advancing to the semi-finals. The remaining teams play in classification rounds for lower places. The competition is distinct from the Asian Champions Trophy. The latter is an elite invitational event for the top six to eight teams and lacks Olympic qualification stakes. In contrast, the Asian Games includes a broader range of Asian nations, including developing hockey countries such as Singapore and Indonesia. The gold medal winner receives automatic qualification for the subsequent Summer Olympics. The tournament differs from the Olympic Games by being a continental event with a smaller, Asia-only field compared to the global twelve-team Olympic tournament. South Korea is the most successful nation with five gold medals, followed by China with four. India won the inaugural title in 1982, while Japan secured its first victory in 2018. The current champion is China, having defeated South Korea in the 2022 final. The number of teams has varied historically, starting with six in 1982, fluctuating between four and eight, and stabilizing at ten since 2018. The event is organized by the Olympic Council of Asia.

The tournament is held every four years as part of the multi-sport Asian Games. It provides a platform for both established powers and emerging nations within the region to compete for continental supremacy and Olympic berths. The format ensures that pool winners and runners-up progress directly to the medal contention phase, while other teams are ranked through additional matches.