Hockey Maharashtra to host National Championship featuring top teams, Olympians
PUNE: Hockey Maharashtra will host the fourth edition of the Hockey India Senior Men Inter-Department National Championship here from 5th to 15th September, featuring 18 teams divided into four pools.
The 10-day tournament will be played at the Major Dhyanchand Stadium in Pune, which will be the third city to host the competition after Bengaluru and New Delhi.
Among the competitors will be two-time winners and defending champions Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) and the 2022 winners Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB).
Four teams will feature in each pool, with the top two advancing to the quarter-finals.
In Pool A, the 2021 and 2023 winners and runners-up in 2022, PSPB, are placed with ITBP Central Hockey Team, Sports Authority of India, Central Civil Services Culture and Sports, and Central Board of Direct Taxes.
RSPB are in Pool B with the All India Police Sports Control Board, Sports Authority of Gujarat, Hockey Academy, and Steel Plants Sports Board.
Pool C will have the Services Sports Control Board, who have finished in third place thrice in the past, along with the Food Corporation of India, Sashastra Seema Bal, and Tamil Nadu Police.
Pool D will feature teams from Punjab National Bank, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Comptroller & Auditor General of India, and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Among the players to feature in the competition are Surender Kumar, Asian Games gold medallist Akashdeep, and Olympians Dharamveer, Devinder Walmiki, and Dilpreet Singh.
Many state players from Maharashtra will also participate in the competition, including Yuvraj Walmiki, Junior World Cup player Aditya Lalge, and those who have been part of the India team camps such as Teyron Perreira, Aquib Rahim, Pratap Shinde, Niyaz Rahim, Darshan Gawkar, Amit Gowda, Vikram Yadav, Ajinkya Jadhav, and Aniket Gurav.
The first match will be played between Steel Plants Sports Board and All India Police Sports Promotion Board on Thursday.
