PHL’s schedule cut short due to Olympic qualifiers

Nov 17: Fourth edition of Premier Hockey League commences on December 20 in Chandigarh

The fourth edition of the Premier Hockey League (PHL) has been compressed in to a 22-day package by the Indian Hockey federation (IHF) due to the Olympic qualifiers are lining up early next year.

The Premier Hockey League (PHL) was under fire for previous year's lengthy schedule from both the national and international players, who participated in the tournament.

However, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) denied that last year's long schedule had nothing to do with having shorter schedule this time, clearing the air that the number of games has been curtailed due to shortage of time ahead of the Olympic qualifiers.

Announcing the schedule and teams of the country’s biggest hockey event in the capital, IHF President KPS Gill confirmed, “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 for the qualifiers.”

The PHL has also not been able to corroborate the names of foreign players who will be coming to play in the league due to the same reason.

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

The 2008-09 edition of PHL will have lesser number of matches in the tournament starting on December 20 in Chandigarh.

A total of 26 matches will be played among seven teams, compared to 37 in the last edition, in the 22-day long premier tournament. The champions will get Rs. 40 lakh prize money, while the runners-up will receive the purse of Rs 20 lakh.

The fixture will include only one round of league matches from which top four will make the cut for the semifinals followed by the best of three finals.

The prestigious tournament will be played at the Sector 42 stadium in Chandigarh and will be telecasted live on ESPN-Star Sports, the sponsor-broadcaster of the event.

The IHF made an effort for the first time to have more youngsters in every team and that is why as many as 21 under-21 and under-19 level players have been roped in different teams to give them the exposure of premium hockey.

To encourage youngsters, striker Tushar Khandekar and midfielder Sardara Singh have been made captains of Bangalore Hi-Fliers and Hyderabad Sultans respectively.

While veteran Dilip Tirkey (Orissa Steelers), Kanwalpreet Singh (Sher-E-Jalandhar), Rajpal Singh (Chandigarh Dynamos), Adam Sinclair (Chennai Veerans) and Viren Rasquinha (Maratha Warriors) have been given the responsibility of the respective teams.

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.