Mysore: Thirty-two teams will be vying for honours at the 4th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship, starting in Mysore on Wednesday.
The championships will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis at the Chamundi Vihar Stadium from March 5 to 23. It will take place in two phases Division A and B and there will be 16 teams competing in each division. Division B of the championship will be played from March 5-13 while Division A will be played from March 15-23. This edition will see two new teams - Hockey Gangpur, Odisha and Vidarbha Hockey Association.
The inaugural match of Division B shall be played between Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh in Pool C on March 5. In Division A, last year's bronze medallist Jharkhand will take on Bengal in the opening match. Defending champions Haryana are placed in Pool A with Tamil Nadu, Sports Authority of India and Rajasthan while runners-up of the third edition of the championship Madhya Pradesh are placed in Pool B with Delhi, Karnataka and Bhopal.
Haryana will take on Sports Authority of India in their opening match on March 15. In the previous edition, Haryana defeated Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 2-1 to claim the title in a hard fought match.
