The 2005 China National Inline Hockey Championship is expected to be held from July 13 to 17 in Beijing, capital of China, according to the China Hockey Association (CHA) on Tuesday.

It will be the first time for Beijing to host an inline hockey championship. Fan Guozhu, general secretary of CHA, said that the tournament, in which seven teams from four Chinese cities would participate, will promote the popularization of hockey event in China.

"It is a very exciting game either indoor or outdoor, very fast and a great spectator event. You will see the event grow extremely fast." said Fan.

"If you want to attract people to winter sports, you must show them some exciting sports like this," added Fan.

Inline hockey is a variant of the more popular hockey. It is usually a five-a-side game where players playing hockey on hard floor, wearing rollers instead of ice skates.

(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2005)