The first edition of the Khelo India U21 Women’s Hockey League will be kicked off by Anurag Singh Thakur.
The first edition of the Khelo India U21 Women’s Hockey League will be launched on Wednesday at the famous Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi by Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Singh Thakur.
The league will take place from December 15th through December 21st, 2021. This league was created by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to provide more opportunities for rising talent to compete.
The 14-team league will kick off with a match between Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High-Performance Centre, Bhubaneswar, and Raja Karan Hockey Academy, Karnal, organized by the Sports Authority of India in partnership with Hockey India.
The Indian Junior team, which is preparing for the FIH Women’s Junior Hockey World Cup, will be the clear favorites, but two Sports Authority of India squads will be looking to get ahead of the competition. Over seven days, a total of 14 teams will compete for the title.
Pritam Rani Siwach, the former India captain, epitomizes the palpable excitement in the women’s hockey community. “This is a fantastic opportunity for players from all around the country to display their skills against the greatest teams in the country,” said Pritam Siwach, who won the Arjuna Award in 1998 and was recently awarded the Dronacharya Award.
Even though they know the India Junior squad and the two Sports Authority of India sides can be formidable, I’m sure all teams will want to put their best foot forward. The League provides players with the opportunity to compete against the greatest teams in a tournament where each match may create high-quality hockey,” she explained.
The tournament’s second phase will take place at the SAI Centre in Lucknow. And the teams head to the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar for the final. The League will maintain interest in women’s hockey, which was ignited by India’s fourth-place result at the Olympic Games in Tokyo earlier this year.
As follows, the teams have been sorted into two groups:
Group A will include Raja Karan hockey academy, Mumbai schools sports association, Him academy, India Juniors, Sports Authority of India B, New Delhi; Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High-Performance Centre.
Group B will include Jai Bharat hockey academy Delhi, Har hockey academy, Sonipat, Sports Authority of India, New Delhi; Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy, Bhopal.
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