Odisha to witness All India Railway Hockey Championship

Odisha will be for the first time hosting the All India Railway Hockey Championship, which begins here tomorrow.
The matches would be played between March 10 and 13, an official release of the East Coast Railway said adding the Kalinga Stadium would be the venue for the event.
The league stage of the championship was held at Kapurthala, Punjab. The qualifying eight teams would participate in the knockout stage.
The teams, which qualified for the quarterfinals, were Central Railway, East Coast Railway, Eastern Railway, Northern Railway, Rail Coach Factory-Kapurthala, South Central Railway, Western Railway and West Central Railway, the release said.

More than 200 players and officials would attend the championship. A number of outstanding hockey players including Arjuna awardees were expected for this event, the release said adding elite players like Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Talwinder Singh, Yuvraj Walmiki, Devindar Sunil Walmiki, Affan Yousuf, Sushant Tirkey, Subodh Tirkey, David Minz, Anup Amarpal Walmiki and Gaganpreet Singh would hog the limelight.
The championship will be inaugurated by Rajiv Vishnoi, General Manager of East Coast Railway. Odisha Governor S C Jamir will be the chief guest for the final and closing ceremony.