Senior National Kabaddi Championships 2017: Men's knockout matches to be telecast on Star Sports First channel

The Senior National Kabaddi Championships are underway at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, with the group stages culminating on Tuesday in both the men's and women's sections.

The competition features some of the biggest stars from the Pro Kabaddi League and in a move that will delight fans, it has been confirmed that the knockout stages, from the quarterfinals onwards, will be telecast on Star Sports' SS First channel on January 4 and 5.

The development was confirmed in the official Star Sports TV listings for the week, which states that the action from the Kabaddi Nationals will be broadcast on SS First from 5:45 PM and 10:30 PM on Thursday and 5.45 PM to 10.15 PM on Friday.

According to the official schedule released by the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India for the competition, the order of play on the two days is as follows:

January 4, 2018 (Thursday)

Quarterfinals - 5.45 pm, 6.45 pm, 7.45 pm and 8.45 pm

January 5, 2018 (Friday)

Semifinals - 5.45 pm and 6.45 pm

Final - 8.45 pm

The Nationals started earlier this week on December 31 after a grand opening ceremony. The competition features a total of 58 teams taking part - 30 men's and 28 women's sides, who have drawn into eight groups.

The top two teams from each group will move into the pre-quarterfinals, which kick off on Wednesday. The women's Round of 16 will be played in the morning session starting at 9 am while the men's games will start at 4 pm in the evening session.

The matches were broadcast on television last year as well on Star Sports, with Services winning the crown after defeating Haryana in the final. This time, there are a number of contenders for the title and it will be fascinating to see who comes out on top.