The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : The PHL has got bigger

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 04, 2007
ePaper

Sport

Sport - Hockey

The PHL has got bigger

Hockey Correspondent

THE LAUNCH: R.C. Venkateish, K.P.S. Gill and S.S. Das Gupta while outlining the features of the Premier Hockey League. — Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Chennai: A hockey fiesta is all set to unfold on Thursday. The third edition of the ESPN-PHL promises a new vista of innovations aimed at adding an element of glamour.

Coming as the event does amidst a sombre mood after the disastrous Doha Asiad, it surely will serve as a balm. The belief that it will generate a new sense of optimism is not misplaced.

Compared to the two earlier editions held at Hyderabad and Chandigarh, this year's competition has been consciously designed to be brighter, and bigger.

With seven teams in a single tier format facing each other twice, the intensity of the matches is bound to be high. The Chennai chapter will have 21 encounters while the remaining ties, including the three-leg finals, will be held at Chandigarh from February 7. The competition concludes on March 5.

Big leap

There has been a quantum leap in the number of foreign players — from one in the inaugural edition to 30 this time. This has been attributed to the growing popularity of the venture.

Players from Pakistan, the Netherlands, Spain and Australia will be on view along with the huge pool of National talent which has been split among the seven sides.

Among the innovations this time, the notable one is the penalty shoot-out. Instead of a flick from the spot against the goalkeeper, each one of the five nominated players will have to dribble from the 25-yard line towards the goal and score within eight seconds.

The shooter is allowed to take as many shots as he wants within the eight-second stipulation. This has been designed to enhance the skills of the player as well as give the goalkeeper a better chance to defend.

There is, however, no change in the regulation time of play, split into four parts of 17 minutes and 30 seconds. Each team will get 2x2 minute time-outs during the regulation time.

While formally launching the PHL on Wednesday, K.P.S. Gill, President, Indian Hockey Federation, pinpointed the growing popularity. In particular, he referred to the unprecedented spectator response for the last edition at Chandigarh.

He was happy that some of the innovations, like the third umpire concept, were endorsed even by the FIH.

Acknowledging ESPN's commitment in giving hockey a new dimension, R.C. Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software India Pvt. Ltd., outlined the quality of telecast that will bring into focus the nuances of competitive hockey.

As many as 13 cameras will be zooming in on the action in all the matches.

"We have gone bigger and better in this edition with a lot of firsts to ensure a more friendly and exciting viewing time for the fans."

S.S. Das Gupta, Managing Director, Leisure Sports Management, dwelt on the growth of the league which showed that everything was moving in the right direction.

The prize-money for the winner this time is Rs. 40 lakhs while the runner-up will take home Rs. 15 lakhs. Bangalore Lions, which will be led by Olympian Arjun Halappa, is the defending champion.

Jothikumaran, Secretary, IHF, said that the chairman of the umpires' committee in the FIH, Peter von Roth, would conduct a two-day clinic during the tournament.

The foreign touch

Three foreign players have been allotted to each team.

Chennai Veerans: Albert Casas (Spain), Ehsan Ullah and Muhammad Zubair (Pakistan).

Sher-E-Jalandhar: Don Prins (Netherlands), Imran Muhammad and Imran Khan (Pakistan).

Maratha Warriors: Cesco van der Vliet (Netherlands), Adnan Maqsood and Imran Warsi (Pakistan).

Orissa Steelers: Tjeerd Steller (Netherlands), Salman Akbar and Adnan Zakir (Pakistan).

Bangalore Lions: Thijs de Greff and Sander van der Weide (Netherlands) and Rehan Butt (Pakistan).

Chandigarh Dynamos: Bander Bomans and Timo Bruinsma (Netherlands) and Sajjad Anwar (Pakistan).

Hyderabad Sultans: Sebastian Wewsterhout (Netherlands), Shakeel Abbasi and Tariq Aziz (Pakistan).

The other set, including the Australians, will be in action at Chandigarh.

Admission is free for all the matches.

Thursday's match will be preceded by the opening ceremony featuring performances by actors Madhavan, Vasundhra Das and model Yana Gupta.