The tournament, which is considered the richest hockey league in the world, will take place for a little over a month, with the knock-out clashes and the final set to take place on the 25 and 26 February respectively, with six sides battling it out for the top honours.
Jaypee Punjab Warriors, who lifted the title last year after beating Ranchi Rays in the summit clash, begin their title defence against Dabang Mumbai on 27 January at the the Mahindra Hockey Stadium in Mumbai.
Last season's runner-ups Kalinga Lancers will hope to go one step further when they start their campaign against the 2014 winners Delhi Waveriders in Bhubaneswar. The Uttar Pradesh Wizards will play Dabang Mumbai in their first game of the 2017 edition in Mumbai on Jan 24. Mumbai will then host the Champions Punjab Warriors on Jan 27 for the latter's first match of the tournament.
Ranchi Rays made the first move in the league when they acquired Gurbaj Singh for $99,000. Ranchi continued the spree with the signing of German forward Christopher Ruhr for an impressive $75,000. Tom Craig (Kalinga Lancers), Robert van der Horst (Punjab Warriors) and Seve Van Ass (Uttar Pradesh Wizards) were among the top signings in the league.
"We hope to raise the bar again this season, by increasing reach to more fans via innovative mediums as well as better revenues for players and sponsors. At the heart of its concept, the HIL benefits our Indian players development immensely by allowing them to play alongside some the best players in the world hence learning new techniques that go a long way during the hockey season," HIL chairman Narinder Dhruv Batra had said earlier.
Some of the other players to watch out for in the tournament are Sardar Singh (Jaypee Punjab Warriors), Florian Fuchs (Dabang Mumbai), Nikkin Thimmaiah (Dabang Mumbai), PR Sreejesh and VR Raghunath (Uttar Pradesh Wizards).
Among the many developments in the build-up to the tournament is that of Dabang Mumbai joining hands with Hockey Australia to promote the sport at the grassroots level in the city with a programme named ‘Hookin2Hockey'. The programme will cover modules like ‘Coach the coaches sessions', ‘Training sessions for juniors (12-16 years), ‘Grassroot programme for U-12' which will be followed by a ‘Round robin tournament' on the last day.
Here's the full schedule of the league.
Teams - Punjab Warriors(Champions), Ranchi Rays, UP Wizards, Dabang Mumbai, Delhi Waveriders and Kalinga Lancers
Venues - Chandigarh, Ranchi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi, and Bhubaneshwar.
TV listings - Star Sports 2/HD and Star Sports 3/HD
Timing - 7:00 PM IST
Hockey India League Schedule 2017 | ||||
DATE | TIME | HOME | AWAY | VENUE |
Jan 21 | 07:00 PM | Dabang Mumbai | Ranchi Rays | Mumbai |
Jan 22 | 07:00 PM | Kalinga Lancers | Delhi Waveriders | Bhubaneswar |
Jan 23 | 07:00 PM | Kalinga Lancers | Ranchi Rays | Bhubaneswar |
Jan 24 | 07:00 PM | Dabang Mumbai | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Mumbai |
Jan 25 | Rest | |||
Jan 26 | 07:00 PM | Ranchi Rays | Kalinga Lancers | Ranchi |
Jan 27 | 07:00 PM | Dabang Mumbai | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Mumbai |
Jan 28 | 07:00 PM | Ranchi Rays | Delhi Waveriders | Ranchi |
Jan 29 | 07:00 PM | Kalinga Lancers | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Bhubaneswar |
Jan 30 | 07:00 PM | Dabang Mumbai | Delhi Waveriders | Mumbai |
Jan 31 | 07:00 PM | Dabang Mumbai | Kalinga Lancers | Mumbai |
Feb 01 | 07:00 PM | Ranchi Rays | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Ranchi |
Feb 02 | 07:00 PM | Ranchi Rays | Dabang Mumbai | Ranchi |
Feb 03 | 07:00 PM | Kalinga Lancers | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Bhubaneswar |
Feb 04 | 07:00 PM | Ranchi Rays | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Ranchi |
Feb 05 | 07:00 PM | Kalinga Lancers | Dabang Mumbai | Bhubaneswar |
Feb 06 | Rest | |||
Feb 07 | 07:00 PM | Delhi Waveriders | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Delhi |
Feb 08 | 07:00 PM | Delhi Waveriders | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Delhi |
Feb 09 | 07:00 PM | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Ranchi Rays | Chandigarh |
Feb 10 | 07:00 PM | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Kalinga Lancers | Lucknow |
Feb 11 | 07:00 PM | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Dabang Mumbai | Chandigarh |
Feb 12 | 07:00 PM | Delhi Waveriders | Kalinga Lancers | Delhi |
Feb 13 | Rest | |||
Feb 14 | 07:00 PM | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Chandigarh |
Feb 15 | 07:00 PM | Delhi Waveriders | Dabang Mumbai | Delhi |
Feb 16 | 07:00 PM | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Ranchi Rays | Lucknow |
Feb 17 | 07:00 PM | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Delhi Waveriders | Chandigarh |
Feb 18 | 07:00 PM | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Kalinga Lancers | Chandigarh |
Feb 19 | 07:00 PM | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Delhi Waveriders | Lucknow |
Feb 20 | 07:00 PM | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Jaypee Punjab Warriors | Lucknow |
Feb 21 | 07:00 PM | Delhi Waveriders | Ranchi Rays | Delhi |
Feb 22 | 07:00 PM | Uttar Pradesh Wizards | Dabang Mumbai | Lucknow |
Feb 23 | Rest | |||
Feb 24 | Rest | |||
Feb 25 | TBC SF1 | Team 1 | Team 4 | Chandigarh |
TBC SF2 | Team 2 | Team 3 | ||
Feb 26 | TBC 3v4 | Loser M31 | Loser M32 | Chandigarh |
TBC Final | Winner M31 | Winner M32 |
Where to watch:
The HIL can be viewed with English commentary on Star Sports 2 and HD 2. For Hindi commentary, one simply has to tune in to Star Sports 3 and HD 3.
Online streaming:
In the event one does not have a television around, one can simply log into Hotstar.com, the official website of the Star Sports network. Smartphone owners have the additional option of downloading the Hotstar app, available on both Android as well as on iOS.
loading...
0 Comments
We Will Love to Hear From You! Pls Comment Your Views...........