30 teams to compete in 16th junior women’s hockey championship

A total of 30 teams will participate across three divisions in the 16th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2026 to get underway in Pune from Wednesday.

The tournament will continue until August 23, with the teams competing for the national title as well as promotion and relegation across the divisions.

The championship will feature Division ‘A’, Division ‘B’ and Division ‘C’, with the three categories providing a pathway for teams to compete at their respective levels and progress through the national championship system. The division-based format will see teams battle not only for the title but also for promotion to a higher division. The Division ‘A’, comprising 12 teams, has been divided into four pools. Pool A features Jharkhand, Punjab and Chandigarh, while Pool B consists of Haryana, Odisha and Bengal.

Pool C includes Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Manipur. Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal are in Pool D.

The Division ‘A’ league stage will begin on August 16, with each team playing against the other teams in its respective pool. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the quarterfinals, scheduled for August 20. The semifinals will be played on August 21, followed by the 3rd-4th place match, and the final, on August 23.

The 12 teams in Division ‘A’ will be competing for the coveted national championship title, while the teams finishing 11th and 12th overall will be relegated to Division ‘B’ for the next edition.

The Division ‘B’ will feature 10 teams divided into two pools. Pool A comprises Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Kerala and Mizoram while Pool B includes Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Goa. The top two teams from this division will earn promotion to Division ‘A’, while the bottom two teams will be relegated to Division ‘C’.

The Division ‘C’ will feature eight teams divided into two pools. Pool A consists of Arunachal, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Rajasthan, and Tripura, while Pool B includes Puducherry, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, and Telangana. The top two teams from this category will earn promotion to Division ‘B’ for the next edition.

Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said, “With teams competing across three divisions, the tournament will provide young players with valuable competitive exposure while strengthening the domestic pathway.”