Intense competition expected in Hockey India Junior Men National championship

A total of 30 teams across three divisions will take part in the 16th edition of the Hockey India Junior Men National Championship starting here from Tuesday. Promotion and relegation will add further significance to every fixture in the competition, which will culminate on August 8, as the teams placed in Division A will compete for the title, while the teams in Divisions B and C will be engaged in a battle for promotion to next division.

Division A will have 12 teams divided into four pools of three teams each. Pool A comprises Hockey Haryana, Hockey Madhya Pradesh, and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu. Pool B consists of Hockey Association of Odisha, Manipur Hockey, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey.

Pool C will have Hockey Punjab, Hockey Jharkhand, and Delhi Hockey, while Pool D features Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Karnataka, and Hockey Bengal. After the conclusion of the league stage, top two teams from each pool will compete in the quarterfinals to be held on August 5. The semifinals will be on August 6, while the playoff for the third-placed side will be on August 8. The bottom two ranked teams in Division A will be relegated to Division B.

Division B will have 10 teams divided into two pools of five teams each. Pool A features Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Uttarakhand, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir, Hockey Himachal, and Kerala Hockey. Pool B consists of Hockey Andhra Pradesh, Hockey Chandigarh, Hockey Arunachal, Bihar (BSSA), and Chhattisgarh Hockey.