Bangalore: The preliminary phase of the Super Division hockey league will be held on the Sports Authority of India turf here from September 17 to 25. Six teams will vie for the top two slots which will guide them to the second phase in Madikeri.

Two changes have been made in the preliminary phase. One is the shift from
Madikeri to Bangalore so that the logistical burden of the teams are reduced. The other is the number of teams which has come down from eight to six.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Indian Air Force are the two teams which have withdrawn from the fray. While HAL opted out contending that the Madikeri sojourn, in case they qualified, may pinch their pockets, IAF said were committed to the inter-Services tournament in Mumbai from September 23 to 28.

“We have six teams in the fray now for the first phase,” Karnataka State Hockey Association secretary K Krishnamurthy said. “KSP, SAI, COE, PCTC, Central Excise and MEG. Two teams topping the league at SAI will join eight others in the second phase which will be held between September 28 and October 12.”

The teams which have been directly seeded to the second phase are Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Army Red, Army Green, Canara Bank, Army Service Corps, Fortis and Namdhari XI, who stage a comeback after turning out in the Bombay league last year.