The second season of Hockey India League (HIL) is here to enthral fans over a period of one month. A total of 34 matches will be played in a span of 30 days in Mohali, Ranchi, New Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Bhubaneswar.
In the inaugural season, Ranchi Rhinos defeated Delhi Waveriders 2-1 in a cracker of a final to win the title. With a win percentage of 64.29 in the first season, the reigning champions are one of the favourites to clinch the title this year. Rhinos’ key players include captain and midfielder Moritz Fuerste, Dutch hockey star and forward Floris Evers, India’s teenage hockey sensation and forward Mandeep Singh and midfielder Birendra Lakra, among others.
Delhi Waveriders played brilliantly in the inaugural season but finished second after losing a close final to Rhinos. Sardara Singh, captain of Waveriders and India, was named Player of the Tournament in HIL 1. Having the experience of playing 174 international matches, Sardar will be one of the biggest threats for the other teams. Waveriders’ fortunes will largely depend on how their key players perform. The team features stars like German goalkeeper Nicolas Jacobi, South Africa forward Lloyd Norris Jones, India’s Yuvraj Walmiki and Akashdeep Singh, among others.
Commenting on his form, Sardar, the only Indian player to have featured in FIH All Star Team twice in succession, said, ‘I will play more attacking hockey and try to help the forward line in attack and hope for a goal or two in the process. It’s a new tournament. So obviously it’s a new beginning for us. Quite a few players have also changed in our side. The coaching staff has also changed. So you can say it’s a new day for us and we will have leave behind last year’s performance and start from the scratch.’
Indian forward Ramandeep Singh, who secured the highest bid from Uttar Pradesh Wizards during HIL auctions, will be watched keenly. The UP franchise bagged the Amritsar forward for $81,000. In all, 49 players, including 28 from India and 21 overseas players, were bought at the closed bid. Out of 49, the sixth franchise and the latest entrant Kalinga Lancers bought 24 players. Amongst the overseas players, New Zealand’s Ryan Archibald emerged costliest, going for $71,000 to Kalinga Lancers.
Set up on the lines of Indian Premier League (IPL), the tournamnet has been successful so far. Commenting on the economic aspect of IPL, former India skipper Viren Rasquinha saidw, ‘Today, for any league to be commercially viable, it is crucial to deliver sustainable value to the sponsors and the franchise owners. TV is the key here. In the first season of HHIL, the telecast went to 146 countries across the world. TV Viewership in India was 41.109 m and world viewership was 20.84m. There were 4,20,000 video views on Youtube of which 2/3rd of the views came from outside India. It is by far the best paid league in the world.’ The league will conclude on February 23.
Big Booty
Hockey India League season 2 winners will pocket a huge purse of `2.5 crore while the runners-up will be richer by `1.25 crore. The third placed team will get `75 lakh. Apart from the top three teams winning cash prizes, the Player of the Tournament will get to take away `25 lakh. The player with maximum goals will have a chance to win `10 lakh. The Upcoming Player will pocket `20 lakh. In addition, each Man of the Match will win `25,000. Hockey India League began on Saturday with a clash between Punjab Warriors and Delhi Waveriders at the new hockey stadium in Mohali, Punjab.
New kid in the block
Kalinga Lancers is the new outfit to join the fray in the second season of Hockey India League which began on Saturday.It is jointly owned by Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) and Mahanadi Coalfield Limited (MCL). Former Australian striker Terry Walsh is the head coach of the team while former India captain Dilip Tirkey has been appointed as chief mentor and advisor.
‘We have a good and young team. We are very much optimistic that the team would put up a good show in the tournament,’ said assistant coach Lazarus Barla. Kalinga Lancers’ journey starts on January 28 when they take on Punjab Warriors in Bhubaneswar. The team would play five matches in its home turf at Kalinga Sports Complex. The matches are scheduled to be held on January 28, February 1, February 2, February 13 and February 14. All the matches would be played under floodlights.
SQUAD: Terry Walsh (Coach, Australia); Tristan Clemons, Lucas Vila, Russell Ford, Glenn Simpson, Prabodh Tirkey, Ryan Archibald, Gonzalo Peillat, Harjot Singh, Tristan Clemons, Gagandeep Singh, Banwait Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Lucas Vila, Mandeep, Antil Mohammed, Amir Khan, Mohammed Nizamuddin, Russell Ford, David Minz, Devinder Walmiki, Glenn Simpson, Jasbir Singh, Kiel Brown, Manjeet Kullu, Prabodh Tirkey, Roc Oliva, Ryan Archibald, Vikas Sharma, Vikram Kanth, Aran Zalewski, Dipsan Tirkey, Gonzalo Peillat, Ramon Alegre.
In the inaugural season, Ranchi Rhinos defeated Delhi Waveriders 2-1 in a cracker of a final to win the title. With a win percentage of 64.29 in the first season, the reigning champions are one of the favourites to clinch the title this year. Rhinos’ key players include captain and midfielder Moritz Fuerste, Dutch hockey star and forward Floris Evers, India’s teenage hockey sensation and forward Mandeep Singh and midfielder Birendra Lakra, among others.
Delhi Waveriders played brilliantly in the inaugural season but finished second after losing a close final to Rhinos. Sardara Singh, captain of Waveriders and India, was named Player of the Tournament in HIL 1. Having the experience of playing 174 international matches, Sardar will be one of the biggest threats for the other teams. Waveriders’ fortunes will largely depend on how their key players perform. The team features stars like German goalkeeper Nicolas Jacobi, South Africa forward Lloyd Norris Jones, India’s Yuvraj Walmiki and Akashdeep Singh, among others.
Commenting on his form, Sardar, the only Indian player to have featured in FIH All Star Team twice in succession, said, ‘I will play more attacking hockey and try to help the forward line in attack and hope for a goal or two in the process. It’s a new tournament. So obviously it’s a new beginning for us. Quite a few players have also changed in our side. The coaching staff has also changed. So you can say it’s a new day for us and we will have leave behind last year’s performance and start from the scratch.’
Indian forward Ramandeep Singh, who secured the highest bid from Uttar Pradesh Wizards during HIL auctions, will be watched keenly. The UP franchise bagged the Amritsar forward for $81,000. In all, 49 players, including 28 from India and 21 overseas players, were bought at the closed bid. Out of 49, the sixth franchise and the latest entrant Kalinga Lancers bought 24 players. Amongst the overseas players, New Zealand’s Ryan Archibald emerged costliest, going for $71,000 to Kalinga Lancers.
Set up on the lines of Indian Premier League (IPL), the tournamnet has been successful so far. Commenting on the economic aspect of IPL, former India skipper Viren Rasquinha saidw, ‘Today, for any league to be commercially viable, it is crucial to deliver sustainable value to the sponsors and the franchise owners. TV is the key here. In the first season of HHIL, the telecast went to 146 countries across the world. TV Viewership in India was 41.109 m and world viewership was 20.84m. There were 4,20,000 video views on Youtube of which 2/3rd of the views came from outside India. It is by far the best paid league in the world.’ The league will conclude on February 23.
Big Booty
Hockey India League season 2 winners will pocket a huge purse of `2.5 crore while the runners-up will be richer by `1.25 crore. The third placed team will get `75 lakh. Apart from the top three teams winning cash prizes, the Player of the Tournament will get to take away `25 lakh. The player with maximum goals will have a chance to win `10 lakh. The Upcoming Player will pocket `20 lakh. In addition, each Man of the Match will win `25,000. Hockey India League began on Saturday with a clash between Punjab Warriors and Delhi Waveriders at the new hockey stadium in Mohali, Punjab.
New kid in the block
Kalinga Lancers is the new outfit to join the fray in the second season of Hockey India League which began on Saturday.It is jointly owned by Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) and Mahanadi Coalfield Limited (MCL). Former Australian striker Terry Walsh is the head coach of the team while former India captain Dilip Tirkey has been appointed as chief mentor and advisor.
‘We have a good and young team. We are very much optimistic that the team would put up a good show in the tournament,’ said assistant coach Lazarus Barla. Kalinga Lancers’ journey starts on January 28 when they take on Punjab Warriors in Bhubaneswar. The team would play five matches in its home turf at Kalinga Sports Complex. The matches are scheduled to be held on January 28, February 1, February 2, February 13 and February 14. All the matches would be played under floodlights.
SQUAD: Terry Walsh (Coach, Australia); Tristan Clemons, Lucas Vila, Russell Ford, Glenn Simpson, Prabodh Tirkey, Ryan Archibald, Gonzalo Peillat, Harjot Singh, Tristan Clemons, Gagandeep Singh, Banwait Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Lucas Vila, Mandeep, Antil Mohammed, Amir Khan, Mohammed Nizamuddin, Russell Ford, David Minz, Devinder Walmiki, Glenn Simpson, Jasbir Singh, Kiel Brown, Manjeet Kullu, Prabodh Tirkey, Roc Oliva, Ryan Archibald, Vikas Sharma, Vikram Kanth, Aran Zalewski, Dipsan Tirkey, Gonzalo Peillat, Ramon Alegre.