New Delhi, Aug 11 : The 15th Hockey India Junior Men National Championship 2025 is set to kick off on Tuesday in Jalandhar, Punjab. The tournament will run until August 23 and will follow the new division-based format, which has already been introduced and implemented in the Senior and Sub Junior Men's and Women's and the Junior Women's National Championships earlier this year.

The 30 participating teams are split into Division 'A', Division 'B' and Division 'C', with promotion and relegation adding an extra edge to the competition. The teams in Division 'A' will be fighting for the title while the top two teams from Divisions 'B' and 'C' will earn promotion to the next tier. The bottom two sides in Divisions 'A' and 'B' will face relegation to the next division for 2026.

Division 'A' features the country's 12 best junior men's sides, including defending champions Hockey Punjab, runners-up Hockey Uttar Pradesh and third-placed Hockey Haryana. Pool matches begin on August 16, leading to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final from August 20 to 23. The teams are divided into the following pools:

Pool A: Hockey Punjab, Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu

Pool B: Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Jharkhand, Hockey Maharashtra

Pool C: Hockey Haryana, Manipur Hockey, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey

Pool D: Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Association of Odisha, Hockey Andhra Pradesh

Division 'B' will feature league matches only, with the top two ranked teams being promoted to Division 'A' and the last two relegated to Division 'C'. Matches will run from August 12 to 16. The teams are divided into the following two pools:

Pool A: Hockey Mizoram, Hockey Himachal, Hockey Chandigarh, Hockey Jammu & Kashmir, Hockey Arunachal

Pool B: Hockey Association of Bihar, Delhi, Hockey Uttarakhand, Hockey Bengal, Assam Hockey

Division 'C' will also be played in a league format with teams divided into two pools of four teams each, with the top two ranked teams being promoted to Division 'B'. Matches will take place from August 12 to 15. The teams are divided into the following pools:

Pool A: Kerala Hockey, Le Puducherry Hockey, Telangana Hockey, Tripura Hockey

Pool B: Chhattisgarh Hockey, Hockey Raj, Hockey Gujarat, Goans Hockey

Across all three divisions, teams will earn 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 points for a loss.

Hockey India President Dr Dilip Tirkey said, "Junior tournaments are extremely crucial for the future of Indian hockey. The young players will learn a lot playing in this format as we will see a different level of competitiveness among teams across all divisions as they battle for promotion and the championship title. I wish all the players good luck and am looking forward to seeing how the tournament shapes up ahead.'

Hockey India Secretary General Bhola Nath Singh spoke on similar lines and stated, "The Junior Men National Championships are an important event in our calendar, giving young players valuable match experience and exposure. We are confident that this year's tournament will showcase strong performances and continue to contribute to the growth of the sport at the grassroots level.'

/IANS