29th National Women Hockey Championship starts on the 5th of August

Lahore: 29th National Women Hockey Championship starts on the 5th of August with the final scheduled on the 12th. All the matches will be played at the Naseer Bunda hockey stadium, Islamabad. 11 participating teams are WAPDA, Railways, Army, HEC, Punjab Colours, Punjab Whites, Sind Colours, Sind Whites, Khyber pakhtunkhwa, Baluchistan and Islamabad. WAPDA are the defending champions. Railways finished runner up in the last edition. The teams are divided into two pools. The top two sides would qualify for the semi-finals. -There are also awards for the Best Player, Best Goal keeper and Top scorer. The event would also serve as trials for the next assignment of the national team: 4th Women's Asian Hockey Federation Cup in Bangkok, Thailand, to be held from October 1 to 9th. The selection committee comprising decorated Olympians, Saleem Sherwani and Mussadiq Hussain plus Ms Chand Parveen would be watching the girls in action. Saeed Khan and M.Usman, who have been named manager and coach respectively for the national women team, will also be in attendance. Federal Minister of Inter Provincial Coordination, Mr Riaz Peerzada is expected to be the chief guest for the final.