Hockey Champions Trophy online ticket sales begins today

New Delhi: Hockey India (HI) on Monday announced the commencement of online ticket sales for the much-awaited Hockey Champions Trophy to be held at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha from December 6-14.

Speaking about the development, HI president Narinder Batra said: "Within a year this is the third international hockey tournament which India is hosting and is a matter of great pride for us.

"With the game again reviving its popularity in the country in recent years, the young and enthusiastic spectators want to witness more of such international matches being played in our home country. Also with an increasing number of state and national level hockey players hailing from Odisha and a huge fan base in the state, we are sure of a packed stadium for every match throughout the tournament."

The Kalinga Stadium has a seating capacity accommodating 7,000 spectators. The tickets can be booked online, with the official ticketing partner of the event TicketGenie (www.Ticketgenie.In).

The price of session tickets starts at Rs 20, 50, 100 and 200 with each session tickets entitling the spectator to watch two matches. The tickets will also be available for sale at the box office in the stadium and through various outlets in the city shortly.

To encourage hockey fans to watch all India games, the timings of Indian matches are scheduled at 19:30 hrs in the pool stage. The nine-day event will see eight top-ranked international teams fighting it out for the title, playing a total of 24 matches. The tournament schedule is set with two pools of eight teams followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals, classification and medal matches. Pool A will feature Australia, England, Belgium and Pakistan while India is placed in Pool B alongside the Netherlands, Germany and Argentina.

The opening day of the event will feature all eight teams including India who will open its campaign against Germany, followed by Argentina (December 7) and the Netherlands (December 9).