The 35th U-21 National Hockey Championship will start from 2nd of Mrach

Lahore: Sixteen departmental and provincial teams will feature in the 35^th U-21 National Hockey Championship that tees off at the National Hockey Stadium here on Wednesday. Four matches will be played on the opening day.

The Championship is a very important event of the annual calendar of Pakistan Hockey Federation which helps to spot future talent for the national team. The Championship will also help the PHF to select the national team for the Junior World Cup-2016.

The participating teams have been divided into four pools. Pool-A: National Bank of Pakistan, Police, Pakistan Board, Punjab (w). Pool-B: Balochistan, Railways, Khyber Paktoonkhawa (c), WAPDA. Pool-C: Sui Southern Gas Company, ARMY, Sindh, Islamabad. Pool-D: Punjab (c), Customs, Pakistan Ordnance Factory, Khyber Paktoonkhawa (w).

Quarterfinals will be played on March 8 and Semifinal will be played on March 10, March 11 will be the rest day. Final of the Championship will be played on March 12. Besides this an exhibition match between Olympian XI and Lahore Media XI will be played on March 9.

Today’s Matches: Punjab (C) vs Pakistan Ordnance Factory at 9.30am. Sui Southern Gas Company vs Sindh at 11.30am. NBP vs Pakistan Boards at 1.30pm, WAPDA vs Railways at 3.30pm.

Meanwhile; Manager Pakistan White hockey team Shahid Pervaiz Bhandara will address a press conference at the National Hockey Stadium on Wednesday, the 2^nd of March 2016 at 3 pm.

Pervaiz Bhandara will share his observations of the Indian tour with media. The coaches of the Pakistan White team Olympians Mohammed Saqlain and Rehan Butt would also attend the press conference. Pakistan team won gold medal in the recently concluded 12^th South Asian Games at Guwahati, beating India 1-0 in the final.