HCA guidelines for Open Selection Trials, 2026-27 season

Selection Trials will be conducted over a period of 14 days for the shortlisted applicants

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) informed that all aspiring players that the Open Selection Trials for the 2026–27 season will be conducted over a period of 14 days.

The registration process witnessed an overwhelming response with approximately 6000 registrations received. Upon verification, around 1500 duplicate registrations / repeated Aadhaar entries were identified and removed from the final list.

---

To ensure smooth and systematic conduct of the trials, approximately 300 players per day will be called for participation.

All registered players are strictly advised to wait for the official email communication from HCA regarding their slot, reporting time, and trial date, and not report to the ground unless they have received an official email confirmation and cooperate with the scheduling process and patiently wait for their respective turn.

The scheduling has been designed to ensure fair opportunity, proper crowd management, and smooth conduct of the trials.

Trial Schedule: Morning Session: Players 1 to 50 – 1st Slot: 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM; Players 51 to 100 – 2nd Slot: 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM; Players 101 to 150; 3rd Slot: 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM; Players 151 to 200 – 4th Slot: 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

Evening session: Players 201 to 250 – 5th Slot: 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM; Players 251 to 300 – 6th Slot: 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

All players must report to the venue at least 30 minutes prior to their allotted slot timing. Late reporting may lead to inconvenience during the trial process.

Further details and instructions will be communicated through the registered email IDs of the shortlisted applicants.

********

Harish wins Brilliant Open online chess

J Harish of Chennai won the Brilliant Trophy Open online chess tournament scoring 11.5 points from 12 rounds on Tuesday.

Ansh Malhotra got second place with 9.5 points and J.Malleswara Rao got third place with nine points from 12 rounds.

Final placings:1. J. Sriharish, 2. Ansh Malhotra, 3.J. Malleswara Rao, 4. Krishna Kishore Rallabandi, 5. Siddharth Pernati, 6. Srujan Keerthan, 7. P.S.S Nandagopal, 8. JR Abhishek, 9. M. Abdallah Nistar, 10. P.Harshith.

Best woman player: Lopamudra Aadya Annambhotla,

Best veteran player: P.K. Sankaran.