BHUBANESWAR: Asmita Barla and Joyti Chhetri will lead the Odisha senior and junior women's hockey teams respectively in the upcoming national hockey tournaments.
A total of 28 teams were divided into eight groups for the 11th Hockey India Senior Women’s Hockey Championships scheduled in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh from October 21 to 31.
Odisha are placed in Pool D along with Chhattisgarh Hockey and Hockey Himachal. In their first league round match, they will face Hockey Himachal on October 21. The pool topper will qualify for the knock-out rounds.
Similarly, 27 teams are divided into eight groups for the 11th Hockey India National Junior Women’s Hockey Championships scheduled in Simdega, Jharkhand from October 20 to 29.
The 18-member Odisha junior women's team is placed in Pool G along with Chhattisgarh Hockey, Hockey Himachal and Hockey Madhya Pradesh. They will start their campaign against Hockey Himachal on October 21.
"Both the teams are well prepared to face any challenge in the upcoming national tournaments," said Dilip Tirkey, chairman of the ad-hoc committee for hockey in Odisha.