New Delhi, Mar 6 (IANS): India's top hockey players and budding stars will be vying for top honours representing their respective state teams as all eyes will be on the forthcoming 14th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2024 Pune.

Hockey India selectors will be closely watching the performances of players here to pick the core probables' for the upcoming national coaching camp.

The focus now will be to build a strong pool of players keeping in mind the qualification for FIH Women's Hockey World Cup in 2026.

"Hockey India Senior Women National Championship is a very important domestic tournament, where we will get to see new talent emerge from different states and Union Territory. This year we will have participation from 28 states and UTs, with members of the Indian team representing their respective states. Hockey India selectors will be closely watching the performances of all the players and based on their recommendation, a new core group will be selected," expressed Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey.

He further emphasised that even for the current Indian team players, a good show at the 14th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2024 is imperative to hold on to their place in the core group.

"No player can take their place in the core group for granted. Everyone will need to perform to their best potential to make the cut. We need to now focus on making the qualification for the FIH Women's World Cup in 2026 and build towards the LA Olympics with optimism. There is plenty of talent in India, the National Championships is an important platform to identify new talent and we need to further strengthen the domestic structure to bring them to the fore," the HI chief added.

Reflecting on the president's vision of strengthening the domestic structure, secretary general of Hockey India Bhola Nath Singh said, "We are putting our minds together to introduce a few new tournaments in the domestic calendar, particularly for the development of women's hockey. We already have a restructured National Championships but we are also working on starting a domestic league for women that could further give opportunity for aspiring players to showcase their talent and make their way into the national program. It is now time to rebuild and focus on investing in the future."