26 teams to take part in Hockey India Women National tourney

New Delhi: Twenty six teams will be vying for honours in the first Hockey India Senior Women National Championship to be held at Rai in Sonepat from January 21 to 30.

The tournament will be played on a league-cum-knockout format with 26 teams, including Railways, divided into a pool of eight, a Hockey India (HI) release said.The tournament, which will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, will be played on two artificial turfs at Moti Lal Nehru School of Sports and SAI Centre at Sonepat. The event will provide a great opportunity for the players to make a mark for themselves.Teams: POOL A: Railways, Andra Pradesh and Uttrakhand POOL B: Karnataka, J&K and Bihar POOL C: Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Manipur POOL D: Punjab, Maharshtra, Rajasthan and Tripura POOL E: Jharkhand, Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala POOL F: Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh and Gujarat POOL G: Delhi, Orissa and Tamil Nadu POOL H: Haryana, Puducherry and Assam. PTI