LAHORE Wapda will defend its title as the 25th National Women Hockey Championship Preliminary round gets under way at the National Hockey Stadium today.

In all, 18 teams are participating in the preliminary round, while Quetta Colors, Quetta Whites, Islamabad and NWFP have entered the final round directly.

The teams have been divided in to four groups, which are as follows

Pool 'A' D.G Khan, Rawalpindi, Multan, Gujranwala.
Pool 'B' Faisalabad, Sargodha, Lahore, Bahawalpur.
Pool 'C' Wapda, Railways, Police, Rangers, HEC, Pak Board.
Pool 'D' Karachi, Sukkur, Larkana, Hyderabad.

Draws

Dec 6 D.G Khan vs Rawalpindi; Multan vs Gujranwala; Faisalabad vs Sargodha; Lahore vs Bahawalpur; Railways vs Police; Rangers vs HEC; Wapda vs Pak Board; Karachi vs Sukkur; Larkana vs Hyderabad.

Dec 7 Rawalpindi vs Multan; D.G Khan vs Gujranwala; Sargodha vs Lahore; Faisalabad vs Bahwalpur; Wapda vs Rangers; Railways vs HEC; Police vs Pak Board; Karachi vs Larkana.

Dec 8 D.G Khan vs Multan; Rawalpindi vs Gujranwala; Faisalabad vs Lahore; Sargodha vs Bahawalpur. Wapda vs Police; Railways vs Rangers; HEC vs Pak Board; Sukkur vs Larkana.

Dec 9 Wapda vs HEC; Police vs Rangers; Railways vs Pak Board; Karachi vs Hyderabad.

Dec 10 Wapda vs Railways; Police vs HEC; Rangers vs Pak Board; Sukkur vs Hyderabad.

Eight top teams of the preliminary round along with four direct qualifiers will play the final round, for which pool matches will be held from Dec 11 to 16. Semi-finals will be played on Dec 17 and final on Dec 18.