Sr Women Nationals: Madhya Pradesh to take on Chhattisgarh in season opener

Pune : The 14th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship is all set to kick off on Wednesday here at the Major Dhyanchand Hockey Stadium Pimpri with Madhya Pradesh taking on Chhattisgarh in the tournament opener.

The semifinal will take place on March 2 with final scheduled on the following day.

A total of 27 teams that have been divided into eight pools will be vying for top honours. The upcoming tournament holds significance as it will serve as the platform for choosing the next core probables for the women's national team.

The majority of the senior women's team, which includes key players such as Indian captain Savita, the most capped player Vandana Katariya, seasoned pro-Monika, experienced players like Navneet Kaur, Salima Tete, as well as emerging talents like Deepika and Sangita Kumari, are all poised to take part in the competition from their respective states.

Defending champions Madhya Pradesh have been slotted in Pool A along with Bihar and last year’s runners-up Chhattisgarh. Hosts of this year’s edition Maharashtra find themselves in Pool B with Delhi and Kerala.

Pool C consists of Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh while Haryana, Puducherry and Assam form Pool D.

Odisha, Chandigarh and Goa are a part of Pool E. Pool F consists of Punjab, Himachal, Rajasthan and Mizoram. Karnataka find themselves in Pool G alongside Manipur, Uttarakhand and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey while Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Telangana form Pool H.

The top team from each Pool will advance to the quarterfinals, slated for March 20, with the semifinals set to take place on March 2. The 3rd/4th place play-off is scheduled for March 23, followed by the final later that evening.

Notably, 29 Indian international players will be a part of this tournament. Maharashtra will have Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke, Akshata Abaso Dhekale and Rajani Etimarpu in the team while the likes of Mariana Kujur, Ajmina Kujur and Jyoti Chhatri will turn up for Odisha.

Nikki Pradhan, Beauty Dungdung, Salima Tete and Sangita Kumari will be seen in action for Jharkhand and Baljeet Kaur and Gurjit Kaur will represent Punjab.

Uttar Pradesh will see Mumtaz Khan, Vandana Katariya and Bansari Solanki donning their colours while Bichu Devi Kharibam, Ishika Chaudhary and Lalremsiami will represent Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram respectively.

Haryana will field a star-studded line-up consisting of 11 international players, namely Monika, Navneet Kaur, Neha, Nisha, Deepika, Mahima Chaudhary, Jyoti, Savita, Sharmila Devi, Sonika and Udita.