The Waveriders went ahead with a fine strike by Simon Child, Austin Smith drew the hosts level through a drag flick on a PC with a little bit of variation. And in the final quarter, Manpreet Singh’s strike on PC sealed the title for the hosts, who had 12th man with them i.e. a packed capacity crowd.
Manpreet Singh and Moritz Fürste lifting the HIL Trophy
Ranchi Rhions the Hockey India League 2013 Champions
Ranchi Rhions Celebrating with young Mandeep Singh on their shoulders
Hero Player of the Tournament ( Rs 25,00,000/-): Sardar Singh
‘Ponty Chadha Trophy’ for Upcoming Player of the Tournament ( Rs 20,00,000/-): Mandeep Singh
‘Airtel Award’ for Most Goals in the Tournament ( Rs 10,00,000/-): Delhi Waveriders
Ranchi, 10 February 2013: Four goals, including a golden goal from skipper Raghunath right in the last minute of extra time earned Uttar Pradesh Wizards a 4-3 win over Jaypee Punjab Warriors in an absolute thriller of a third place play-off game of the Hero Hockey India League at Birsa Munda Astroturf Hockey Stadium on Sunday.
V R Raghunath won bronze for Uttar Pradesh Wizards
Trailing 0-3 at one stage, Wizards came back with Raghunath scoring a hat-trick, all through drag flicks, to force and extra time. Raghunath then scored his fourth from another drag flick to ensure that Wizards got the bronze medal, and earned prize money of Rs 75 lakhs.
Jaypee Punjab Warriors completely dominated the first quarter. They showed a lot of intensity, and aggression, and were rewarded for it with a couple of goals. Gurmail Singh entered the Wizards’ D, and put the ball on Nithin’s leg to earn Warriors their first penalty corner. Mark Knowles took the drag flick, and fired the ball low to the right of diving Bazeley. The ball beat Bazeley for pace and angle and entered the net to give Warriors the lead. Continue reading →
Ranchi, 9 February 2013: Ranchi Rhinos made sure that they play in the first ever Hero Hockey India League final in front of home crowd, as they beat Uttar Pradesh Wizards 4-2 in the semi-final at Birsa Munda Astroturf Hockey Stadium on Saturday.
Mandeep Singh scoring 1st goal of the day as Ashley Jackson support and George Bazeley tries to catch on
A brace each from Mandeep Singh and Nick Wilson was good enough to see the hosts through. For wizards, Nithin Thimmiah scored both the goals.
“It was anybody’s game at 2-2, but the Rhinos utilised their chances better. Our strength is equal but today was not our day. Our first two goals were big disappointments. But, we will lift our game and raise our game for tomorrow’s match,” Wizards’ skipper Raghunath said. Continue reading →
Hockey India League Points Table after the completion of league stage matches
The five team tournament has seen 30 round-robin matches to eliminate Ric Charlesworth coached Mumbai Magicians, who could just manage to win only match of their 12 league matches. Rest of the teams have played each other thrice with mixed results. Lucknow based Wizards have been most unpredictable in the tournament and are the only team who defeated the table toppers Delhi Waveriders in the league stage and settled the scores with 1 draw, 1 win and 1 loss against the title favorites and also only to get defeated by eliminated side Magicians.
The unpredictable Wizards, who are coached by Roelant Oltmans, will face the Rhinos coached by Gregg Clark, while Barry Dancer’s Warriors will be facing Dr AK Bansal’s Waveriders in the semi finals. As the league stage progressed towards the end, teams looked better in their structure of play and on-field communications, it will be interesting to see how these teams coached in four different styles will play tactically in the knock out stage of the tournament.
Preview Semi 1: Ranchi Rhinos begin favourites against UP Wizards on home turf Continue reading →
New Delhi, 07 February 2013: Uttar Pradesh Wizards finished their league engagements in the Hero Hockey India League on a high, beating league toppers Delhi Waveriders 4-1 at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.
Leandro Negre (FIH President) after introdution before Delhi vs UP match
By handing Waveriders their first defeat of the tournament, Wizards ensured that they would avoid AK Bansal’s boys in the semis. Wizards finished third in the league, and would take on second placed Ranchi Rhinos in the semis. Waveriders would face fourth placed Jaypee Punjab Warriors in the other semi-final.
It turned out to be one of the rare matches in the tournament where there were no goals scored in the first half. However, the game was not dull by any means in the first two quarters. Waveriders’ skipper Sardar Singh made some good moves from the midfield, and made an excellent pass to Akashdeep Singh in the second quarter, although Akashdeep was unable to stop the ball. Continue reading →
