Top India stars will turn up for their respective state units and employers when the 9th Senior Women’s Hockey National Championship begins here on Friday.
Gurjit Kaur, Deep Grace Ekka, Sushila Chanu, Navneet Kaur, Navjot Kaur, Anupa Barla and Vandana Katariya are some of the top stars who will turn up for the defending champions Railway Sports Promotion Board.
“After their successful outing in the Spain recently, it is good for the players to continue their competitive form at the National Championship,” said David John, High Performance Director, Hockey India.
While the core group of women in the national team have remained constant over the past two years, national selectors would be watching out for fresh talent during the tournament as we prepare for the important next 18 months leading into the Olympic Games 2020.
RSPB will begin their campaign against Hockey Rajasthan in the Pool A opening match during the 11-day domestic extravaganza. The Pool A also features Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Odisha and Hockey Coorg while Pool B will see last year’s runners-up Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha, Chhattisgarh Hockey and Hockey Bhopal.
Pool C includes Hockey Haryana, Hockey Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Him, Central Reserve Police Force and Pool D will have Hockey Jharkhand, Hockey Punjab, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Association of Indian Universities and Kerala Hockey.
Teams that finish top two in each of these Pools in the round robin stage will qualify for the quarterfinals to be played on February 15, while the semifinal and final will be played on February 17 and 18 respectively.
