In all 16 teams from all over the state will vie for the top honours in the inaugural Asmita Hockey State League, which will be played at the Maj Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium, Nehrunagar-Pimpri here from Saturday. 
The tournament will be played in two categories -- the sub-juniors and juniors -- which will begin on March 7 and end on March 14. 
The tournament is being held under the aegis of Hockey India, Sports Authority of India, and Hockey Maharashtra. In the junior girls section, competition will be held for teams from eight districts while the same number of teams will compete in the sub-junior girls category. 
The teams in each category will engage in a round-robin league initially. The top two from each category will play in the knock-out semifinal round followed by the final. 
Both winners &ndash; sub-junior and juniors &ndash; will be given cash awards for their respective efforts in the competition. Abhinav Sharma, Deputy Director, Sports Authority of India (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, MYAS, Government of India), SFW, explained, &ldquo;The Asmita Women&rsquo;s League is a program under Khelo India to promote sports among women in India. In association with Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Hockey India, the league aims to increase the participation of women in Sports by organising various leagues, to utilise the leagues as a platform for identification of new talents, evaluation of existing Khelo India athletes and to provide competition exposure to women athletes of different age categories across the Country.&rdquo;&nbsp;
The Asmita Hockey State League will get underway with an exhibition match between ex-Olympians and international players from the State playing against school girls, which will be followed by the unveiling of the Asmita Trophies on Saturday.&nbsp;
Teams/ Groups Sub Juniors: Pool-A: Chandrapur, Nagpur, Yavatmal and Pune. Pool-B: Gondia, Raigad, Thane and Mumbai City. Juniors: Pool-A: Aurangabad, Mumbai Suburb, Nashik and Satara. Pool-B: Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Sangli and Pune.&nbsp;
&mdash;IANS

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March 1, 2025 | 11:23 IST