Lucknow, March 10 (IANS): The second phase -- Division A -- of the National Hockey Championship will begin at the Major Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium here from Tuesday and will go on till March 23.
The 20 teams in the division will be divided into four pools with five teams each. The inaugural match will be played between Jharkhand and Bhopal with the final scheduled for March 23.
In the previous edition, Air India defeated Punjab 6-2 to lift the trophy.
This time the defending champions are placed in Pool A with Chandigarh, Services Sports Promotion Board, Association of Indian Universities and Andhra Pradesh while runners-up Punjab are in Pool B with Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Sports Authority of India and Comptroller & Auditor General of India.