The Astroturf facility in the steel hub will be witnessing some exciting action during the third Naval Tata Jharkhand State Hockey Championship next month.

A total of 16 teams, including the ones from Khunti, Gumla, Hazaribagh, Ranchi and Naval Tata Hockey Academy (NTHA) will be playing for top honours at the event from March 5 to 8 at the NTHA Astroturf facility near Telco township.

The championship will be played in the league-cum-knock out format.

The championship is for sub-junior (Under-17, born on or after January 1, 2003) and junior boys (Under-19, born on and after January 1, 2001), said Rituraj Sinha, chief of corporate administration, Tata Steel, at a press meet on Friday.

NTHA chief executive officer Goutam Mukherjee said the event is part of vision of Hockey Ace Foundation to promote the game.

The four-day championship will be inaugurated by Tata Steel vice-president (corporate services) Chanakya Choudhary in the presence of Hockey Jharkhand president Bholanath Singh.

Dignitaries from Tata Steel sports wing will also grace the inaugural ceremony.

The championship will be sponsored by the NTHA.