New Delhi, Mar 5 (PTI) Sports Authority of India, in association with Hockey India, on Thursday announced the first edition of the Khelo India Women's Hockey League (U- 21).

It will be organised by Hockey India at three different venues in three phases between March to November.

While phase one will be held from March 23 to 29 at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, the second phase will be held from July 13 to 19 at the SAI Center in Bengaluru, followed by the final one from November 22 to 29 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

"The effort of the government is to create talent identification platforms for athletes from multiple sports through the Khelo India Scheme," said sports minister Kiren Rijiju.

"In women's hockey, the number of national-level competitions currently being held in India are limited and therefore we felt the need to create this league so that more talent could be identified in the U-21 category.

"I am sure this league will bring forth many talented hockey players."

A total of 14 teams will take part in the first season of the league. The teams will be divided into two pools of seven teams each for phase one and phase two of the league, which will follow a round-robin format, with each team playing a total of six matches each in both the phases.

Phase three will comprise classification matches based on the rankings of teams after the conclusion of the first two phases. A final match will also be held to determine the champions. PTI

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