Senior Hockey likely to be held in Pindi

RAWALPINDI: The 66th edition of the National Senior Hockey Championship will be held from November 3-15 most probably here at the newly laid synthetic blue turf at Ayub Park.

“We are trying to hold qualifying as well as main round at the newly laid turf. However, we have yet to finalise the venue as still there are some formalities to be inked,” an official of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) said.

He added that in all probabilities, the final round of the event will be held at the synthetic turf.

“In any case if holding of both the rounds at the same venue is not possible then we would be organising the qualifying round in Lahore,” he said.

Eight teams including National Bank, Sui Southern Gas Company, Wapda, Army, PIAC, Navy, Port Qasim and Police have been placed in the main round while eighteen others will vie for three places available.

The qualifying round has been named as Tray Hockey Championship to be staged from October 20-31 and the venue will be intimated, shortly.

The teams for this event include PAF, Mari Petroleum, Railways, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, AJK, Customs, PTV, POF, SNGPL, HEC, ZTBL, Fauji Foundation, and Pak Steel Mills. Three qualifiers will make it to 11-team national championship. The main round will be played on a round-robin league basis with each team playing the other before the semi-finals and final.

“Our main teams require maximum exposure and matches. The selectors also want maximum hockey from the contenders to pick the best players for upcoming international events,” the PHF official said. The best eight teams were picked on the basis of rankings.