Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The 12-day Hockey India senior women's national championship 2022 began on Friday at 3 pm at Dhyanchand Hockey stadium in Bhopal.
Minister of sports Yashodhara Raje Scindia inaugurated the championship with director of sports Ravi Kumar Gupta.
Olympians Aslam Sher Khan (1972, 76) and Jalaluddin Rizwi also attended the inaugural ceremony as a special guest.
The championship began with Scindia meeting the players of Delhi and Gujarat from Group G.
The 27 participating teams are divided into eight pools. Teams in Pool A are Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Chandigarh and Hockey Bihar, while Pool B features Hockey Haryana, Assam Hockey and Hockey Bengal. Pool C consists of Hockey Punjab, Chhattisgarh Hockey and Tripura Hockey, while Pool D features Hockey Maharashtra, Hockey Rajasthan, Hockey Uttarakhand.
Hockey Jharkhand, Hockey Andhra Pradesh and Le Puducherry Hockey have been included in Pool E, while Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu and Hockey Arunachal, Hockey Andaman & Nicobar have been slotted in Pool F. Pool G consists of Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Delhi Hockey, Goans Hockey and Hockey Gujarat, while Pool H features Hockey Association of Odisha, Kerala Hockey, Telangana Hockey and Hockey Himachal.
Hockey MP was the defending champion of the title when they defeated Hockey Haryana in the last edition played at Jhansi in October 2021.
Hockey MP coach Vandana Uikey said, "There will be a bit of pressure playing at home as the Title defenders, but I think we are fully prepared, both mentally as well as physically. We will go game-by-game, our first target is to qualify for the Quarters, and then approach the knockout stage depending on who we play against. Preparations have been fantastic, and players are excited to take part in the competition."
After eight days of pool matches, the quarter finals will be played on May 14, the semifinals will be held on May 16 and the medal matches are scheduled for May 17.
The state capital has been hosting back to back national championships. Bhopal recently hosted the senior men's hockey championship as well.
