KARACHI, Aug 19: The 4th National Women’s Football Championship, featuring 13 teams, will see Punjab University’s Sports Sciences Department defending their title when they take on Sindh as the tournament kicks off at the Jinnah Stadium, Islamabad, at 6.00pm on Wednesday.

The day’s other matches will see Diya Football Club Sindh facing Punjab on pitch no 2 at the same time and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) up against Higher Education Commission at 8.30pm.

The event being organised by the Islamabad Football Association (IFA) under the directives of the Pakistan Football Federation has the teams divided into four groups.

Group ‘A’ comprises Sports Sciences, Sindh and Vehari United while Diya Club are being bracketed with Punjab, HEC and AJK in Group ‘B’.

Host Islamabad will lock horns with Balochistan and Police in Group ‘C’ while Wapda, Rawalpindi’s Young Rising Stars (YRS) and NWFP are in Group ‘D’.

Draws:

Aug 20: Sports Sciences v Sindh; Diya FC v Punjab; AJK v HEC

Aug 21: Balochistan v Police; Wapda v NWFP; Sindh v Vehari United

Aug 22: Diya v HEC; Punjab v AJK; Balochistan v Islamabad

23 Aug: YRS Rawalpindi v NWFP; Sports Sciences v Vehari United; Islamabad v Police

Aug 24: Punjab v HEC; Diya FC v AJK; WAPDA v YRS Rawalpindi

Aug 25, 26: Quarter-finals

Aug 28: Semi-finals

Aug 29: Third place match

Aug 30: Final