Indian sports wrap, March 17: Final phase of inaugural National Women’s Hockey League to commence tomorrow

HOCKEY

Eight U-21 teams set to compete from March 18 in final phase of National Women’s Hockey League

The final phase of the inaugural National Women’s Hockey League 2024-25 is set to commence on March 18 at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh AstroTurf Hockey Stadium in Ranchi. The U-21 tournament will see eight of the top state teams of the country compete for the title in a round-robin league format.

The teams participating are Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bengal, Mizoram, Manipur, and Odisha.

The tournament will be played in a single pool with each team facing the other once. The winner of each match will be awarded three points, while draws will secure a single point. The team standing atop the points table at the end of the league matches will be crowned champion.

Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey stated, “We are excited to see the young players compete at such a high level. It is crucial to have youngsters compete in domestic tournaments all around the year for their growth. I wish all the players and coaches all the best and hope we get to see some great matches and rising talents in the ranks.”

The opening match is set to be played between Haryana and Manipur on March 18 at 7AM IST, followed by clashes between Odisha and Bengal and Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra at 9AM and 11AM respectively. The last match of the day will see Jharkhand face Mizoram at 6:30PM IST.

-Team Sportstar

TENNIS

ITF: Jay Clarke to start as top seed

The champion of the last tournament in Chandigarh, Jay Clarke of Britain, will start as the top seed in the $15,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament to be played at the Gujarat University Tennis Academy from Tuesday.

A bunch of Indian players Aryan Shah, Dev Javia, Prajwal Dev, Siddharth Vishwakarma and Sidharth Rawat, seeded fourth to eighth in that order, will try to capitalise on another good opportunity at home to improve their ranking.

Karan Singh had to pull out this week owing to a twisted ankle suffered during the last tournament. He is reportedly recovering well for the subsequent events scheduled in the country.

The semifinalist of the last tournament, the reigning National Games champion Ishaque Eqbal will open against qualifier Rishi Reddy.

Davis Cupper Digvijay Pratap Singh will play the runner-up of the last tournament, Woobin Shin of Korea.

Fourth seed Aryan Shah will start against qualifier Vulinet Tashi of Kosovo.

Overall, a potentially exciting week of action for Indian tennis.

– Team Sportstar