Odisha, which won its maiden senior women’s title earlier this year, will be aiming to repeat that win at the National Games.
Odisha, which won its maiden senior women’s title earlier this year, will be aiming to repeat that win at the National Games.
Indian hockey is on a revival mode since the exceptional performance of both the men’s and women’s teams in the Tokyo Olympics. 36. K Hockey Event th The National Games, which begins on Sunday at the Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium, could possibly bring forth new talent and give the much needed push to the sport in the country.
With only the top eight teams fielding, the competition is expected to be of high standards and is a chance for many young players to come to the national level. The teams will be with Sai in full force and will ask all the national campers to join their respective teams for the National Games. Haryana, the defending men’s champions, runners-up Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka are the seeded teams. However, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, two states with a good pedigree in the game, may throw in some surprises. Defending champion Punjab has not qualified for the event
Odisha, which won its maiden senior women’s title earlier this year, will be aiming to repeat that win at the National Games. Defending champions Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka and Jharkhand are the strong sides which are capable of winning gold.
However, the format of the tournament is such that all eight teams, regardless of standing in the league after the preliminary round, will qualify for the knockout quarter-finals.
group
Men: Group A: Haryana, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Gujarat.
Group B: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Women: Group A: Odisha, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
Pool B: Karnataka, Jharkhand, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.