The 15th edition of the Hockey India Senior Women National Championship is set to commence on March 1 at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula.
On Friday, Hockey India unveiled a new format with a promotion and relegation system for the Senior Women’s National Championship.
The new format aims to enhance competition but also intends to provide a pathway for teams to ascend to higher divisions or risk relegation based on their performances.
In the Division A event, 12 teams have been divided into four pools. Host Haryana, Odisha, and Karnataka form Pool A, while Maharashtra, Manipur, and Punjab have been placed in Pool B. Jharkhand, Mizoram, and Tamil Nadu make up Pool C, while Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh constitute Pool D.
The teams finishing 11th and 12th in the national championship will be relegated to Division B.
In Division B, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan will compete in Pool A, while Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Goa, and Bihar are grouped in Pool B. The two bottom-placed teams will be relegated to Division C. The top two teams will earn direct promotion to Division A.
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Meanwhile, in Division C, Kerala, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Gujarat, and Tripura form Pool A, while Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir are in Pool B. The top two teams will secure promotion to Division B.
