The 14th National youth volleyball championship will commence here on Tuesday with 21 States in the men's category and 18 in women's section in the fray.
The tournament, restricted to under-21 age group, is being held in West Bengal for the third time. On the previous two occasions, the championship was held at Bardhaman.
This time the West Bengal Volleyball Association (WBVA) has decided to host the meet in the city.
The teams have been divided into four groups with men's defending champion Uttar Pradesh heading Group A and last year's runner-up Tamil Nadu leading Group B. Losing semifinalists Kerala and Haryana head groups C and D.
Women's defending champion Kerala will lead Group A and runner-up Haryana Group B.
West Bengal, which finished third last year, will head Group C and Himachal Pradesh Group D.
The group league matches will be played at SAI, Eastern Centre, Salt Lake Stadium and at the association courts from Tuesday to Friday.
The knockout quarterfinals will be played on February 11, the semifinals the next day and the finals on February 13.
The meet will be inaugurated by Sports Minister Madan Mitra at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.
The groupings:
Men: Group A: UP, Maharashtra, AP, West Bengal and J & K. Group B: TN, Gujarat, Delhi, Tripura and HP. Group C: Kerala, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha. Group D: Haryana, Karnataka, MP, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Puducherry.
Women: Group A: Kerala, Karnataka, MP and Odisha. Group B: Haryana, AP, Rajasthan and Jharkhand. Group C: West Bengal, UP, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Puducherry. Group D: HP, TN, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttarakhand. — Special Correspondent
