To make a mark in 12th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship at Kakinada from today

The Junior Women’s Hockey players from across the nation have a golden opportunity to showcase their skills at the 12th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship, which began today (Mar. 25) at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

A total of 26 teams will vie for top honours in the competition including the Karnataka team that has 12 players from Kodagu. Kodagu district has contributed many hockey champions to the national and international events including the Olympics.

In the team are: P. Dechamma Ganapathy, B.J. Jeevitha, Seema Anandarao Pawar, B.M. Keerthana, H.S. Jahnavi, Taj Belliappa, S.B. Nisarga, H.B. Siddaganga, H.A. Apsara, K.J. Dilan, T.C. Suchitha and H. Mani. The girls from Kodagu form a formidable force in the 19-member team.

D.N. Tejaswini and C.M. Sahana of Hassan District, Kaveri R. Lenkannavar of Dharwad District, Tamil Nadu-based B. Deepika and Andhra Pradesh-based Vudumula Sowmya who are at present coaching at SAI (Sports Authority of India) Centre Madikeri and Kushee M. Jain from Bengaluru will also represent the Karnataka team.

Participating teams

The participating teams include Hockey Haryana, Goans Hockey and Hockey Madhya Pradesh in Group A, while Pool B features Hockey Jharkhand, Manipur Hockey and Assam Hockey. Pool C includes Hockey Maharashtra, Telangana Hockey and Le Puducherry Hockey, meanwhile, Hockey Chandigarh, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu and Hockey Uttarakhand have been slotted in Pool D.

Hockey Association of Odisha, Delhi Hockey and Kerala Hockey have been included in Pool E, while Pool F features Punjab, Chhattisgarh Hockey and Hockey Himachal. Pool G features Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Bihar, Hockey Rajasthan and Hockey Mizoram, while Hockey Andhra Pradesh, Hockey Karnataka, Hockey Bengal and Hockey Gujarat has been included in Pool H.

Matches from Mar.25

The Karnataka girls will play their first match against Gujarat on Mar. 25 and fight with Andhra Pradesh on Mar. 27 and with West Bengal on Mar. 29. The team will enter the quarter-finals if it wins against all three teams.

After six days of pool matches, the quarter-finals will be played on Mar.31, the semi-finals on Apr. 2 whereas the medal matches of the 12th Hockey India Junior Women National Championship 2022 are scheduled on Apr. 3.

The Karnataka team has brought laurels to the State in thFe matches held in New Delhi,

Assam, Haryana, Jharkhand and Kerala. As of now, there is no player from Kodagu in the Indian National Team either from Kodagu or Karnataka. The participation of 12 players from Kodagu in a single team has raised hopes of at least four or five of them making it to the National team.

Team well-prepared

The team has already been trained well in Bengaluru and the players are confident of making big in the championship. At Kakinada, all the teams have been acclimatising to the ground and weather conditions as the humidity is high. “Our preparations for the tournament are going great and our confidence is high as we are well-trained and we are sure of bringing laurels to Karnataka,” said Dechamma Ganapathy.

In the recently held India Camp in Bengaluru, Dechamma Ganapathy, Tejaswini, Sowmya, Sahana, Kushee, Deepika, Kaveri had participated. While Tejaswini was captain-cum-goal-keeper, Suchitha was the goal-keeper.

B.M. Komala is the team coach and Dharmendra is officiating as Manager.