Senior Men’s National Hockey Championship 2026 to Begin in Jhansi on October 10

October 9, 2026

Jhansi: The 16th Hockey India Senior Men’s National Championship 2026 will begin in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, on October 10, with 29 teams competing across three divisions. The tournament will run until October 21, with the Division A final scheduled for the last day.

The championship will feature Division A, Division B and Division C, with teams placed according to their rankings from the 2025 edition. The tournament gives teams from across the country an opportunity to compete at the national level and fight for their respective division titles.

Division A: 12 Teams to Compete for the Title

Division A will feature 12 teams divided into four pools of three teams each.

Pool A comprises Hockey Punjab, Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu and Hockey Bengal. Pool B includes Hockey Madhya Pradesh, Hockey Maharashtra and Le Puducherry Hockey.

Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Karnataka and Hockey Chandigarh will compete in Pool C, while Pool D features Manipur Hockey, Hockey Haryana and Delhi Hockey.

The pool stage will be followed by the quarter-finals on October 18. The top two teams from each pool will advance to the knockout stage. The semi-finals are scheduled for October 19, while the third-place match and final will take place on October 21.

Division A matches will begin on October 14, with teams looking to secure their places in the knockout rounds.

Division B and C: 17 Teams in the Competition

Division B will feature 10 teams divided into two pools. Pool A includes the Hockey Association of Odisha, Assam Hockey, Kerala Hockey, Hockey Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh Hockey.

Pool B comprises Hockey Jharkhand, Telangana Hockey, Goans Hockey, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Hockey, and Hockey Arunachal.

Division C will have seven teams competing across two pools. Pool A consists of Hockey Mizoram, Hockey Himachal and Hockey Jammu and Kashmir. Pool B includes Hockey Andhra Pradesh, Hockey Rajasthan, Bihar (BSSA) and Hockey Gujarat.

Matches in Divisions B and C will begin on October 10, with teams aiming to make a strong start to their campaigns.

Hockey Punjab Won the Previous Edition

In the 2025 edition, Hockey Punjab won the 15th Hockey India Senior Men’s National Championship after defeating Hockey Madhya Pradesh 4-1 in the Division A final.

Uttar Pradesh Hockey finished third after beating Manipur Hockey 5-1 in the third-place match.

The 2026 championship will conclude on October 21 in Jhansi, with teams across all three divisions competing for honours.