Hockey India League is returning after 7 years. A new era will begin in Indian hockey from Saturday 28th December. In the first match, Delhi SG Pipers will play against Gonasika of Visakhapatnam. Eight teams will be vying for the title in the men’s category. Women’s Hockey League is also starting for the first time in which four teams will face each other from January 12.
The matches in the men’s category will continue till February 1 at Birsa Munda Stadium. The first phase of the competition will be held from December 28 to January 18. In which each team will play each other once. The second phase will start from January 19 in which the teams will be divided into two pools. Pool A features Delhi SG Pipers, Shrachi Rar Bengal Tigers, Surma Hockey Club, Vedanta Kalinga Lancers and Pool B features Gonasika, Hyderabad Hurricanes, Tamil Nadu Dragons and UP Rudras. The top four teams from both the pools will play the semi-finals.
Delhi has a strong team co-captained by Olympic medalist Shamsher Singh and Australia’s Jack Whetton. The morale of the players is high after the camp in Bhubaneswar before the tournament.
Team information
Surma Hockey Club
The core group consists of experienced players like Vincent Vanash, Harmanpreet, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Victor Vagnez, Jonas de Geus and Gurjant Singh. Jeroen Bart of Belgium has been given the responsibility of coaching.
Shrachi Rar Bengal Tigers
The team suffered a blow when goalkeeper and Paris Olympics gold medalist Pirmin Blak withdrew from the tournament due to injury. The management put a premium on drag-flickers Jugraj Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh. Rupinder Pal Singh retired from international hockey. The 34-year-old has been playing club hockey in the Netherlands and will be eager to show people back home that he still has the potential. They have top international stars Sam Lane, another penalty corner specialist, and Belgians Florent van Aubel and Gauthier Bocard as well as Sukhjeet Singh.
UP Rudras
UP Rudras has a big core of Dutchmen along with Paris Olympics gold medallists. In which women’s team coach Paul Van As is also there. Lars Balck and Floris Vortelboer were bought at auction. Dutch midfielder Sev van Ass has withdrawn. He has been replaced by James Albery of Great Britain. The attack will be led by Great Britain’s Sam Ward, Belgium’s Tanguy Cosins and India’s Lalit Upadhyay. The midfielders are also strong, which include players like India’s Hardik Singh and Akashdeep Singh as well as New Zealand’s Kane Russell.
Tamil Nadu Dragons
Zip Jansen, Amit Rohidas, Thomas Sorsby, Tom Craig and Blake Govers are excellent players. Indian forward Selvam Karthi has included local talent in the team. While Australia’s Nathan Ephraims has supported him in the attack. The Dragons have three reliable Dragons flicker options in Janssen, Rohidas and Gowers.
Delhi SG Pipers
Delhi SG Pipers have built a strong squad with the inclusion of Indian stars Shamsher Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Rajkumar Pal and Varun Kumar. The best option in the auction was Indian men’s junior team defender Rohit. 20-year-old Rohit is a fearless first-rusher in the penalty corner and a powerful drag-flicker who is ready to take the league by storm. Former Indian men’s team coach Graham Reid will take charge of the team’s coaching staff, while PR Sreejesh, who recently retired, has been made the mentor.
Team Gonasika
Team Gonasika has strong Indian players like midfielder Manpreet Singh, forward Mandeep Singh, defender Birendra Lakra and goalkeeper Suraj Karkera. The team will be shocked by the departure of forward Tom Boon. But the team has five players from the United Kingdom, with Ollie Paine a strong candidate for the goalkeeping spot.
Kalinga Lancers
Reigning champions Lancers are the only club to return from the last season of the Hockey India League. The team includes international captains. These include Australia’s Aaron Zalewski, Netherlands’ Thierry Brinkman and Belgium’s Arthur Van Doren. The core consists mainly of European players, including Brinkman, Enrique Gonzalez and the Belgian trio of Van Dooren, Antoine Kina and Alexander Hendricks.
hyderabad storm
Germany’s Gonzalo Peilt is in the team. Head coach Pasha Gedman, who was Germany’s 2023 World Cup winner and assistant coach during their silver medal win at the Paris Olympics, believes that Peilat’s experience and skills will play an important role in keeping the team united on and off the field. The team has included players like Arthur D Slover, Neelkanta Sharma, Sumit Valmiki, Nick Woods, Zachary Wallace and Dominic Dixon.
