The 63rd Senior National Men's Hockey Championship will begin at the Aishbagh Stadium here on Sunday night. A total of 34 teams from across the country are expected to take part in the tournament,officials said. Conducted by the Madhya Pradesh government's Sports and Youth Welfare Department under the auspices of Indian Hockey Federation,the Championship would last till July 17 at the astro-turf Aishbagh Stadium,they said. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President,KPS Gill and the Madhya Pradesh Urban Administration and Development Minister,Babulal Gaur will inaugurate the championship. The teams have been divided into eight pools and one team from each pool will qualify for the quarterfinals. The top eight teams of the tournament will also qualify for Federation Cup to be held later. The teams taking part in the competition include Delhi,Puducherri,Jharkhand,Tripura,Punjab,Hyderabad,Bihar,Tamil Nadu,Maharashtra,Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan,Mumbai,Manipur,Bhopal,Chhattisgarh. Apart from these,Chandigarh,Uttar Pradesh,Kerala,Vidharbha,Karnataka,Haryana,Orissa,Madhya Bharat,Goa,Madhya Pradesh State Hockey Academy (MPSHA) Bhopal,Himachal Pradesh,CISF,SAIL,ONGC and ITBP will also participate in the championship,officials said.
