New Delhi, Oct 20 (IANS): A total of 28 teams will fight it out to lift the trophy at the 11th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2021, which starts from Thursday in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.

After six days of pool matches, the quarter-finals will be played on October 27, the semi-finals will be held on October 29 whereas the medal matches are scheduled for October 30, a release said.

"The team is quite positive about their chances ahead of the 11th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2021. We are expecting to qualify for the Quarter-Finals first and then take it match by match thereafter," said coach Vandana Uikey about the mood in Hockey Madhya Pradesh camp, before the start of the tournament.

Asked about the COVID-19 protocols put in place in Jhansi, Vandana said, "All safety measures are in place for the tournament. Apart from Hockey India SOPs, teams & officials are adhering to guidelines by the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as the Government of Uttar Pradesh."

Hockey Maharashtra Coach Chingshubam Sanggai Ibemhal expressed that the team is focussing on improving on a few aspects ahead of the Championship,

"We are currently focusing on a few aspects ahead of the 11th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2021. The girls have improved on the skill of receiving the ball and we are working on a few other skills as well. We are going to take it one game at a time through the competition and put our strategies in place according to our opposition," said Ibemhal.

The participating teams include Hockey Haryana, Hockey Uttarakhand, Le Puducherry Hockey in Pool A, while Pool B features Hockey Maharashtra, Goans Hockey, Hockey Bihar. Pool C features Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Gujarat, Hockey Bengal and Pool D features Odisha, Chhattisgarh Hockey, Hockey Himachal.

Pool E will include Hockey Punjab, Hockey Chandigarh, Hockey Andhra Pradesh, Hockey Arunachal and Pool F will feature Hockey Jharkhand, Hockey Rajasthan, Delhi Hockey, Hockey Andaman and Nicobar.

Pool G will include Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu, Telangana Hockey, Tripura Hockey and Pool H will see Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Kerala Hockey, Assam Hockey, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir vie for the trophy in the 11th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2021.