Gwalior, 30 January 2019: Hockey India 9th Senior National Hockey Championship 2019 (Men) A Division starting 31 January will see top Indian hockey stars turn up for their respective home teams for the 11-day tournament in Gwalior hosted at the Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education as well as the MP Women Hockey Academy.
The star-studded domestic hockey extravaganza will see Indian team striker Ramandeep Singh, who suffered an injury during the FIH Champions Trophy in Breda last year, return to action after nearly six-month layoff. He will be seen in Hockey Punjab jersey along with his compatriots Rupinder Pal Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Manpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh among other players in their campaign to defend the title.
Experienced forward SV Sunil, who missed the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 due to knee injury, will be seen in a Captain’s role for Hockey Karnataka while Petroleum Sports Promotion Board features Indian players Varun Kumar, Kothajit Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Hardik Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Birendra Lakra (Captain), Simranjeet, Sumit. Railway Sports Promotion Board’s Nilakanta Sharma, Chinglensana Singh (Captain) and Dilpreet Singh will also be in the fray. Noted Odia players Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess and Shilanand Lakra will turn up for their state squad while promising youngster Mandeep Mor who starred in Indian Junior Men’s Team Silver Medal feat at the Sultan of Johor Cup last year will be seen in action for Punjab National Bank.
The event will also witness young stars awaiting to get noticed by the national selectors who will be closely watching the performances at this tournament. “The selection of core group of players for the upcoming season will be based on their performance in the previous international tournaments. Their performance at the tournament in Gwalior too will be taken into consideration and the national selectors will keep a close watch on the event. With the tournament now following the four-quarters regulations, we anticipate good, fast-paced hockey and it will be interesting to see if there will be standout performances by youngsters and show potential to make the cut for senior core group,” stated David John, Director High Performance Hockey India.
The pool stage at the tournament will see five teams each in Pool A, B, C and D vie against each other to find a place in the Quarter Finals. Pool A includes Hockey Punjab, Hockey Chandigarh, Association of Indian Universities, The Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd and Services Sports Control Board while Pool B features last year’s runners-up Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, Comptroller & Auditor General of India, Hockey Haryana, Hockey Bhopal and Central Reserve Police Force.
Punjab & Sind Bank, Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Gangpur-Odisha and Punjab National Bank and Railways Sports Promotion Board who placed third in the previous edition will fight for top two spots in Pool C while Air India Sports Promotion Board, Hockey Odisha, Namdhari XI, Hockey Karnataka and Canara Bank will slog it out in Pool D. Top two teams from each pool will qualify for the Quarter Finals on 7 February 2019
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