Ladakh, Feb 15, : Indian Ice Hockey team is practising very hard in Jammu and Kashmir's Ladakh district for the 2009 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Challenge Cup which is scheduled to be play in Abu Dhabi this March.

The second Asian Ice Hockey Championship will be played in March 15-21 this year.

Twenty Ice Hockey players and five standby players, all from Ladakh were selected last week for the international event.

Ladakh Winter Sports Club (LWSC) vice president Gyal Wangyal said, "We hope that we have selected a good team for the upcoming challenge. We hope that they will make their name in Abu Dhabi. I would not say they would win and come back. This is for the first time when an Indian team is participating in International event."

Selected players are very happy after their selection and are confident of giving good performance at the international event.

One of the ice hockey players, Ali Amir is very happy for his selection in the national team and said, "I am happy that we are selected to represent the nation in the international event. I hope that we will give good performance and take our country's name forward."

The mountainous region of Ladakh is possibly the country's highest ice-skating rink at 3483 meters above sea level.

The IIHF Challenge Cup of Asia is a competition held by the International Ice Hockey Federation for Asian teams. The tournament was first held in 2008. (ANI)