After three successful annual editions of the futuristic Hockey India 5-a-side senior national championship, the tournament is back with its fourth edition starting in Kanpur from September 22 at the Hockey Complex here in Green Park Stadium.
The last three editions of the tournament have been beneficial for India as the country secured the silver medals in both the men's and women's categories at the 3rd Youth Olympic Games 2018 held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
This edition will be held over six days, and the annual hockey 5s event will see state teams vie for top honours in three categories - men's, women's, and the most exciting combined men and women event, which will be held for the third time. The men's and women's event will be held from September 22-27 while September 26 will see the combined men and women event take place at the Hockey Complex. This combined format has garnered great interest in its previous two editions with hockey Maharashtra winning on both occasions in 2017 and 2018.
Being hosted by Uttar Pradesh Hockey for the very first time, the 4th Hockey India 5-a-side senior national championship will see eight teams each in all the three categories, which will be divided into two Pools - A and B. Teams from Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Odisha, Maharashtra, Punjab, Jharkhand and Unit of Tamil Nadu, will be competing for the title in all the three categories.
The combined category event is pegged as the most exciting event of the tournament which will put both men and women on an equal pedestal to showcase their talent in the most exciting format. Each participating team in this category will consist minimum of either four women or four men athletes for a 9-member team with one goalkeeper.
In the combined category, two-time defending Champions Maharashtra, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Punjab and are placed in pool A, while pool B consists of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Unit of Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
In men's event category, defending Champions Karnataka are in pool A along with Odisha, Punjab, and Jharkhand, whereas pool B consists of hosts Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Unit of Tamil Nadu and Odisha.
In the women's category, defending Champions Jharkhand are in pool A with Punjab, Odisha, and Unit of Tamil Nadu. While pool B consists of 2017 Champions Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and hosts Uttar Pradesh.
( With inputs from ANI )