LAHORE, July 22 NBP Gold Cup hockey tournament begins at National Hockey Stadium here from Thursday.

Eleven teams are taking part in the tournament.

The participating teams are defending champions PIA, Navy, National Bank, Habib Bank, Police, Port Qasim, Air Force, KESC, Army, Sindh and Punjab.

Cash prizes for the winners will be announced later.

Wapda, Railways, Steel Mills and Customs refused to take part in the tournament due to unavoidable circumstances.

Four matches will be played daily.

Meanwhile, a coaching course will also be run in conjunction with the tournament from July 26 to 30. Thirty-four coaches are invited to attend the course.

Schedule of the first day matches

Navy v Sindh; PAF v Punjab; Port Qasim v PIA; NBP v KESC.