15th Hockey India junior men national championship to begin today in Jalandhar

The 15th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship will be held at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar from August 12 to August 23.

Hockey Punjab President Nitin Kohli and General Secretary Amrik Singh Powar informed that after successfully organising the 14th edition last year, Hockey India has once again entrusted Hockey Punjab with hosting responsibilities for this year’s championship.

A total of 30 teams from across the country, including hosts Punjab, will participate. For the first time, Hockey India has divided the teams into three divisions—A, B, and C—based on national rankings.

Division C includes Kerala, Puducherry, Telangana, Tripura, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Goa. Division B comprises Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Bengal, and Assam.

Division A features top-ranked teams such as Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana, Manipur, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Karnataka, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. Matches for Divisions B and C will commence on August 12, while Division A matches will begin on August 16. The final match is scheduled for August 23.

In terms of format, Division A’s 12 teams are divided into four pools, Division B’s 10 teams into two pools, and Division C’s 8 teams into two pools. Eight league matches will be played daily throughout the tournament.

Hockey India has appointed Faheem Khan as the Technical Delegate for the championship and international umpire Anand Dangi as the Umpire Manager.

Officials added that Hockey India selectors will be present during the tournament to scout and select players for the Indian junior men’s hockey team. All matches will be streamed live on Hockey India’s official YouTube channel.