Local favourites Chandigarh Dynamos will be up against Bangalore Hi-Fliers to settle their previous scores, Dynamos lost to Hi-fliers in the second edition final, with both the teams meet in the first of three finals of the 4th Premier Hockey League (PHL) played at the Sector-42 stadium here on Monday.
Bangalore Hi-Fliers and Chandigarh Dynamos will play the best-of-three finals on January 7, 9 and 11. The third final will not take place if the any of the team wins the first two matches.
Dynamos survived a scare in the semifinals, while Hi-Fliers had shaky comeback to draw level the two-goal deficit against Orissa Steelers forcing it to the tie-breaker and eventually making a place in the finals.
It will be the battle between the equals since strength-wise both the sides are evenly-poised with a host of Indian stars in their ranks.
The likes of Prabhjot Singh, Rajpal Singh, Deepak Thakur and Inderjit Singh Chaddha make strong the Dynamos forward line, while an equally capable strike force of Tushar Khandekar, Arjun Halappa, Sandeep Michael and Korean import You Hyo-sik complete a formidable attack for the Hi-Fliers.
Both sides have the services of specialist drag-flicker in the form of Sandeep Singh and Len Aiyappa proving to be trump cards for Dynamos and Hi-Fliers respectively.
The goal-keepers are likely to come under a lot of pressure and the both custodians Baljit Singh of the Chandigarh team and Bharat Chetri of Bangalore are talented enough to excel under the posts and thwart rival's attempts on their own.
Hi-fliers coach former India goalkeeper Ashish Ballal is exuding with high confidence prior to the final, I am satisfied with the performance of the team. We did not play too well in the semifinals but winning is what matters and we have won.
“We have taken steps that will help us progress and we will rise to the occasion. Finals are the time to show the class and we will perform. May the better team win,'' said Ballal.
Olympian Ballal was all praise for the PHL, "The format is exciting and provides good pressure situations which is good for the public and the players as well. It also keeps the players on their toes."
On team composition, Balla said, "Some of our key players are injured. Though Bimal Lakra is recovering from an injury but he still wants to play and make it a hat-trick of the titles. He won the title with us in the second edition and then he got his second crown with the Orissa Steelers. Now he is back with Hi-Fliers and he wants to win it again. I salute the guy for his will power. He is committed, focused and wants to play."
However, Ballal's counterpart NS Sodhi expressed concern over his team not scoring field goals. "We just did not get the openings for field goals. But then, we are earning many penalty corners and Sandeep Singh is converting them. He is our trump card," he added.
“The team was relying more on defence. "Everybody knows that we have got a good forwardline. We would certainly like to see our forwards do well. Deepak Thakur is our crisis man and hope he will deliver in the finals too," Sodhi said.
When asked whether it would be revenge final for the Dynamos, "There is no question of a revenge match. The best team wins. Of course, both the teams will be determined to win. Ultimately hockey will be the winner if we can give our best and play good hockey to thrill the spectators," Sodhi claimed.
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