Lucknow, Mar 27: The final stage of the second Khelo India Sub Junior Women's Hockey League is all set to take place from March 28 to April 6 at the Padma Shri Mohammad Shahid Synthetic Hockey Stadium in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

This follows the successful completion of Phase 1 in December 2023 and Phase 2 in January 2024, both held in the national capital Delhi.

Nine teams have been divided into two Pools. Pool A consists of SAI Shakti Team, Odisha Naval Hockey High-Performance Centre, Khelo India State Excellency Centre, Bilaspur, Bhai Behlo Hockey Academy, Bhagta and Haryana Hockey Academy while SAI BAL team, Pritam Siwach Hockey Academy, Jai Bharat Hockey Academy and Raja Karan Hockey Academy form Pool B.

The top two teams from each pool will advance to the Semi-Finals, which are scheduled for April 5. Meanwhile, the teams finishing third and fourth in their respective pools will compete in 5th/8th classification matches to determine their final positions in the tournament. Teams that lose their Semi-Finals will play in the 3rd/4th place play-off, while the winners will proceed to the all-important Finals scheduled for April 6.

Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey said, "This is yet another step in Hockey India's commitment towards growing the game at grassroots levels. We have already completed the first two phases of the second Khelo India Sub Junior Women's Hockey League successfully and the Final stage will also, I have no doubt, be a wonderful tournament. This league serves as a platform for nurturing talents, providing them with the exposure needed at early stages to play in great conditions and hone their skills to become better players that may one day go on to bring laurels to the nation."

"It exemplifies our persistent efforts towards developing the future stars of Indian hockey and bringing about a competitive approach right from the grassroots levels," said Hockey India Secretary General Shri Bhola Nath Singh.

"We have seen that domestic tournaments like these have proven to be fruitful in identifying talents. The second Khelo India Sub Junior Women's Hockey League will aid us in our vision to take Indian hockey to greater heights," he said.

(ANI)

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