Hockey India Senior Men National Championship under new format begins on Apr 4 in Jhansi

Thirty teams will compete in three divisions in the 15th Hockey India Senior Men National Championship to be held here from April 4-15.

This will be the first time the men's tournament, to be held at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium, is being played in the new three-division format. The Senior Women National Championship was played in the same new format in March.

The domestic competition, which will now also feature promotion and relegation battles, has been divided into three divisions -- A, B and C.

The Division A will be the highest one as the teams in it will fight for the championship title. Division B will have teams competing for promotion to Division A next season while in Division C, the teams will fight for a spot in Division B for the next edition.

The Division B and C matches are scheduled to begin on April 4 while the Division A matches will commence on April 8.

Division A has the top-12 teams in India, including defending champions Odisha and runners-up Haryana, based on their overall performances in the tournament over the years.

Other teams in Division A, which will have four pools, are Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bengal, Hockey, Karnataka and Puducherry.

Each team will play every opponent once in their respective pools. This will be the only division featuring a knockout stage as the top-two teams from each pool will advance to the quarterfinals, scheduled for April 12.

The semifinals will be played on April 13, and the final and 3rd/4th place match on April 15. The bottom two teams from Division A will be relegated to Division B for the next edition.

In Division B, 10 teams will compete for promotion to Division A. The teams are divided into two pools. Pool A has Chandigarh, Goa, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, while Delhi, Mizoram, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Kerala, Assam are in Pool B.

The top two teams from Division B will earn promotion to Division A for the next season, while the bottom two will be relegated to Division C.

In Division C, the eight teams will compete for promotion to Division B. The teams are divided into two pools. Rajasthan, Arunachal, Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura are in Pool A while Pool B comprises Chhattisgarh, Himachal, Bihar and Gujarat.

The top two teams in Division C will secure promotion to Division B.

The points system in all three divisions is the same. Each team will be awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss.

In Division A, the league stage will be followed by the knockout rounds, while Divisions B and C will conclude with final standings determined by points won in the pool matches.

Commenting on the tournament, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey said, "The new format worked out really well during the senior women national championship and we are looking forward to see how it unfolds this time as well.

"With promotion and relegation at stake, I expect to see teams give it their all on the pitch and play some exceptional hockey."