Hockey India Senior Women's National Championship from October 21, organizing committee bullish on a successful tournament

The 11th Hockey India Senior Women's National Championship will commence on October 21 in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. This is the first senior domestic tournament to take place after the resumption of sports activities in India.

After six days of pool matches, the quarter-finals will be played on October 27, the semi-finals will be held on October 29 and the medal matches are scheduled for October 30.

The Senior Women's National Championship will provide a platform for all domestic players to showcase their talent amidst Hockey India's selectors.

Haryana, Uttarakhand, Le Puducherry Hockey are grouped in Pool A, while Pool B features Maharashtra, Goans Hockey and Bihar.

Read: Belgium's comments on Indian players sweeping FIH Awards is a case of 'Discrimination': Hockey India

Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Bengal will slug it out in Pool C while Pool D features Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Himachal.

Pool E includes Punjab, Chandigarh, Andhra Pradesh and Arunachal while Pool F has Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar.

Karnataka, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Tripura will slug it out in Pool G and Pool H will see Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Assam, and Jammu & Kashmir vie for the trophy in the 11th Hockey India Senior Women's National Championship.

Smooth conduct of hockey tournament

Dr RP Singh, the organizing secretary of the 11th Hockey India Senior Women's National Championship, said the domestic tournaments have started at the right time - after the Indian hockey teams' heroics at the Tokyo Olympics. He said:

"There has been a tremendous increase in interest in hockey after the fantastic performances at the Tokyo Olympics and we are excited to host upcoming talented hockey players."

The organizing committee of Uttar Pradesh Hockey said all SOPs laid down by the government and Hockey India will be followed without any deviation.

"All athletes, team officials, and tournament officials will have to provide a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test report and vaccination certificates. The test should have been taken 48 hours prior to their departure to Jhansi. Apart from that, we will also enforce the rule of wearing a face mask at all times inside the tournament areas, except for the on-field athletes. All officials and participants should also have the Aarogya Setu App installed on their mobile phones. The organizing committee will make sure to leave no stone unturned for the successful conduct of the tournament."

The organizing committee also added that a COVID-19 task force will also be constituted to ensure the implementation of the protocols issued by the MHA and the respective state government.

Also read: Why is the Delhi Hockey Weekend League an excellent initiative and what inspired its creation?