A total of 38 teams will vie for top honours in the third edition of the Hockey India Senior Men's National Championship which will be held in Pune from May 28 to June 10.
The tournament will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis at the Major Dhyan Chand Polygrass Hockey Stadium, Pimpri and Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports Complex in Pune.
Four new teams, including Comptroller and Auditor General, Sports Authority of India, Mumbai Hockey Association Limited and Namdhari XI, will compete in this edition of the tournament.
The inaugural match of the event will be played between Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy (MPHA) and Tripura.
All the 38 teams are divided into eight pools. Defending champions Punjab have been drawn in Pool A along side Delhi, Association of Indian Universities, Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh.
Hockey India selectors and Government Observer will be closely following the performances of all the players to select the probables for future national camps.
Hockey India will provide host Hockey Maharashtra a grant of Rs 20 Lakh for organising the championship.
Pools:
Pool A: Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, Association of Indian Universities and Arunachal Pradesh.
Pool B: Air India, Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy, Puducherry, Tripura and Chhattisgarh.
Pool C: Karnataka, Services Sports Control Board, Bihar, Goa and Sports Authority of India.
Pool D: Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Hockey Maharashtra, Andaman and Nicobar and Mumbai Hockey Association Limited.
Pool E: Jharkhand, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Bengal and Comptroller and Auditor General.
Pool F: Railways, Hockey Bhopal, Sashastra Seema Bal, Jammu & Kashmir and Namdhari XI.
Pool G: Manipur, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Kerala.
Pool H: Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh, Assam and Rajasthan.
