Date:17/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/17/stories/2007111754851900.htm

Sport

Premier Hockey League fourth edition begins on December 20

Principal Correspondent

The PHL will be a 22-day affair this time
The names of foreign players to be announced later

NEW DELHI: The fourth edition of the Premier Hockey League (PHL) will begin on December 20.

However, with the Olympic qualifiers coming up early next year, the made-for-TV league has been squeezed into a 22-day package.

Launch

The PHL, to be played again at the Sector 42 Stadium in Chandigarh, was launched here on Friday by the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and ESPN-Star Sports, the sponsor-broadcaster of the event.

The seven teams of the last edition will again compete for the Rs. 40 lakh prize money as there was no second-tier tournament organised in 2006 like the one during the second edition.

The format has also been changed in order to complete the league in a shorter time.

Fewer matches

There will be just one leg of round-robin matches and the top four will make it to the semifinals which will be followed by a best-of-three finals.

There will be 26 matches compared to 37 in the previous edition.

“We had very limited time as this is an Olympic qualifying year and most of the players are busy preparing with their respective National teams,” said the IHF President, K. P. S. Gill.

For the same reason, the PHL has not been able to confirm the names of foreign players who will figure in the league.

Talks on

“The talks are on, but this year we will have fewer players from Pakistan and more from Europe,” the IHF Secretary-General, K. Jothikumaran, said.

Announcing the teams, the IHF said it has, for the first time, insisted on having youngsters in every team.

As many as 21 under-21 and under-19 players from various teams have been picked to provide them exposure to high-quality hockey.

The teams:

Orissa Steelers: Dilip Tirkey (Capt.), William Xalco, Jitendra Saroha, Prabodh Tirkey, Roshan Minz, Bruno Hadrian Lugun, Sunil Yadav, Damandeep Singh, Sunil Ekka, Birendra Lakra, Gurpreet Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Amardeep Ekka, Eliazar Lakra and Ajitesh Rai.

Sher-e-Jalandhar: Kanwalpreet Singh (Capt.), Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Kulwinder Singh, Jarnail Singh, Davinder Singh Bath, Harpal Singh, Prabhdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Yodhvir Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Pradeep Kumar, Ranjodh Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Jugraj Singh and Sarvanjit Singh.

Chandigarh Dynamos: Rajpal Singh (Capt.), Baljit Singh, Surinder Singh, Sandeep Singh, S. S. Gill, Gaurav Tokhi, Jaswinder Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Irshaad Ali, Deepak Thakur, Inderjit Chadha, Prabhjot Singh, Ravi Pal, Sher Singh and Dharmveer Singh.

Chennai Veerans: Adam Sinclair (Capt.), Sanawar Ali, Sreejesh P. R., Issac, Muthuselvan, Sivabalan, A. Kumar, Senthil Kumar, Innocent Kullu, Mahendra Singh, Raja V., Ashwin, Raghunath, Sommanna, Danish Mujtaba and Vikramjit Singh.

Maratha Warriors: Viren Rasquinha (Capt.), Adrian D’Souza, Suraj Kanta, Kuldeep Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Vikram Pillay, Ajmer Singh, Girish Pimple, Tyrome Pereira, Dhananjay Mahadik, Bharat Kumar Chikara, Shivender Singh, Alden D’Souza, Hardeep Singh and Akhtar Mirza.

Bangalore Hi-Fliers: Tushar Khandekar (Capt.), Bharath Kumar Chhetri, Len Aiyappa, P. T. Rao, Ajay Kumar Saroha, Vinay V.S., Bimal Lakra, Arjun Halappa, Vikram Kanth, Cheeyanna, Hari Prasad, Sandeep Michael, S. V. Sunil, K. A. Nilesh and Kamarjit Singh.

Hyderabad Sultans: Sardara Singh (Capt.), Dinesh Ekka, Samir Baxla, Jasbir Singh, Diwakar Ram, Johnson Ekka, Anand Tirkey, Nitin Kumar, Didar Singh, Pramod Kumar, Bikas Toppo, Pawal Lakra, Veer Singh, Kulbhushan and K. M. Chengappa.