Senior Men's Hockey Nationals 2026: Tamil Nadu and Bengal Draw as Opening Day Sees Multiple Wins

Tamil Nadu played out a 1-1 draw against Bengal on the opening day of Division A in the 16th Hockey India Senior Men's National Championship 2026 in Jhansi on Wednesday. P. Shanmugam scored for Tamil Nadu in the 38th minute, while Sunit Lakra equalised for Bengal in the 49th minute.

Opening day action featured 29 teams competing across three divisions in the tournament. In Division A Pool B, Maharashtra defeated Puducherry 2-1 with a 49th-minute winner from Darshan Gawkar after Rajat Minz cancelled out Ganesh Patil's opener. Chandigarh secured a 3-0 victory over Karnataka in Pool C through goals from Paramvir Singh, Sumit, and Amandeep. In Pool D, Haryana beat Delhi 3-1 with goals from Manjeet, Joginder Singh, and Deepak, while Aman Sharma scored a penalty stroke for Delhi. In Division B Pool A, Kerala earned its first tournament win by defeating Assam 5-2, led by two goals from Sandeep Yadav, alongside Hemanta Borthakur scoring twice for Assam. In Pool B, Arunachal Pradesh defeated Jharkhand 2-1 after captain Abhinav Singh netted the winner in the 53rd minute. Division C concluded on Tuesday, with Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan topping their respective pools.

Teams will continue competing across the divisions in the national championship following the conclusion of Division C matches.