New Delhi: The Lal Bahadur Shastri Hockey Tournament Committee today announced the launch of 22nd Lal Bhadur Shastri U-21 Four Nation Women’s Hockey Tournament on 8th November, 2011 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi

The key initiative taken by the committee this year is to promote four  nation Under-21 Women’s Hockey Tournament. The tournament will feature top ranked hockey teams in the world including Germany, New Zealand and Australia along with hosts India. On the opening day, Australia will take on Germany, while the Indian team will open its campaign against New Zealand. The championship will witness a total of 8 matches, starting from the Round Robin league and leading to the finals. A team shall receive 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw .The top two teams on the basis of points shall meet in the finals on 12th November.

Speaking on the occasion Chairman of the Committee Sqn. Ldr. Kamal Chaudhary said, “Our aim is to popularize, encourage and assist in improving the standard of sports in general and hockey in particular, we wish to inculcate discipline and sportsman spirit amongst the young women players and teams by organizing the Lal Bahadur Shastri Women’s Hockey Tournament annually”.

Spread over a period of five days, the under-21 competition will serve as a medium for publicizing hockey as a sport among young women, encouraging them to take up the national game as a professional career. By ensuring participation from leading countries, as far as women’s hockey is concerned, the organizers have shown their intent of conducting a highly competitive tournament.