Senior National Hockey C’ship in Bhopal from Friday

BHOPAL: The Senior Men’s National Hockey Championship will be revived after a lull of four years with the Hockey India (HI) staging the event from Friday.

This will be the first ever nationals under the aegis of HI, which took over from the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) in 2009.

IHF conducted the last national championship in 2006 in Delhi and Punjab.

Out of the 35 affiliated units of HI, 32 teams have confirmed their participation in the championship, which will be played on a league-cum-knockout basis, HI said in a statement.

The matches will be played on four artificial turfs situated at Aishbagh Stadium, Mayur Park and Sports Authority of India Centre.

Floodlights will be used from the quarterfinal stage onwards.

The new artificial pitch laid at the MP Hockey Academy at Mayur Park will be used for the first time.

Shakeel Qureshi has been appointed the tournament director and the matches will be supervised by leading umpires of the country, including FIH World Panel and FIH International badge holders.