Tag Archives: World Series Hockey

Revisiting World Series Hockey 2012, While Waiting for WSH-2

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Exactly a year ago, 1st edition of World Series Hockey was concluded with Sher-e-Punjab emerging as champions. Sher-e-Punjab had outclassed (5-2) Pune Strykers to win the 1st title of WSH.

World Series Hockey Logo

Eight franchise based teams Bhopal Badshahs, Chandigarh Comets, Chennai Cheetahs, Delhi Wizards, Karnataka Lions, Mumbai Marines, Pune Strykers and Sher-e-Punjab participated in the 1st edition of WSH organized by Nimbus Sports in association with Indian Hockey Federation (IHF). 160 Indian players and 48 players from abroad (0.3 ratio of International players with respect to Indian players) played in the 2012 edition of the month long event.

Apart from a total of Rs. 10,00,00,000/- prize money, WSH invested a few Crores of Rupees in improving the infrastructure at host venues such as installation/upgradation of lights, laying/repairing of turf, installation of world class goalposts, etc. The WSH also worked with stadium authorities through out 8 venues (Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Jalandhar, Mumbai and Pune) to repair/upgrade and create facilities such as change rooms for the players, rest-rooms for spectators, etc. which are critical facilities but ignored often by the organizers and hosts. Continue reading →

The Fans of Hockey Calendars for 2013 are here!!!

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Continuing with our custom of bringing out wallpaper calendars every year, we are ready with our 2013 calendars. This time we have designed 2 calendars.

2013 Calendar by The Fans of Hockey: If you want a hard copies (A3 Size) of these calendar delivered to your doorsteps, then write to thefansofhockey[at]gmail.com with your detailed postal address, contact number, etc along with code and number of copies you want.

A sneak-peak into earlier editions: Continue reading →

After Ups and Downs in 2012, Wish to see Rangaswamy Cup being given away to National Champions in 2013

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Everybody agrees on “India is important for the progress of hockey in the world of sports” but is India moving in right direction?

2013 Calendar by The Fans of Hockey

2013 Calendar by The Fans of Hockey (Click here to buy a copy)

It has been a year of ups and downs for Indian Hockey, with World Series Hockey getting postponed because the national players were busy in preparing for Hero FIH Road to London: the Olympics Qualifiers, which India won in style to book their ticket for London. Continue reading →

World Series Hockey 2 Rescheduled

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Bangalore, 16 November, 2012: World Series Hockey (WSH) and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) have decided to reschedule the second edition of World Series Hockey, India’s first multi city franchise-based hockey tournament.

World Series Hockey LogoWSH 1 was a resounding success on-air, on-ground and online. With an average TV weekly reach of 8.9 million, the league was three times bigger than the nearest non-cricket competitor in the same period, English Premier League (2.75 million) (Source: TAM, CS 4+)

There were packed stadiums with 350, 000 + walk-ins, 10,000 articles in key national and regional newspapers generating media value in excess of 100 crores, and 10 million impressions across WSH digital properties with live streaming on YouTube, a global first for hockey.

The decision to reschedule the dates of hockey’s biggest annual event was taken after a request made by the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) to the organizers of the Event. The IHF has been in discussions with players, participating coaches and match officials, all of whom have reiterated their commitment to play in World Series Hockey.

There are two significant matters which could potentially properly define and cement the status of the IHF as the sole and exclusive governing body for hockey in India: Continue reading →

World Series Hockey Season 2: Bigger and Better with 1 match a day

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World Series Hockey is back for its second edition, bigger and better!

TWorld Series Hockey Logohe largest hockey league in the world will start with a double header on Saturday, 15 December and will run till the finals on Sunday, 20 January.

The tournament will now have 45 matches played over 5 weeks, as opposed to 59 matches over the same period in the first edition. There will be one match a day on weekdays and two matches a day on the weekends. The weekday match begins at 8 pm and the two weekend matches start at 6 pm and 8 pm respectively.

This spread ensures that players get adequate rest between games and top-notch hockey is guaranteed from start to finish.

The number of teams in the competition now stands at seven, with Chandigarh Comets and Sher-e-Punjab united into one Punjab team. This will ensure undivided support for the team, with matches played across multiple venues in Punjab.  Continue reading →

Nimbus and IHF announce dates for WSH Season 2: From 15 December 2012 to 20 January, 2013

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Mumbai, 6 September: After the resounding success of the first season of World Series Hockey, Nimbus and IHF have announced the dates for the second season. The world’s biggest hockey league will be played from Saturday, 15 December 2012 to Sunday, 20 January 2013.

Yannic Colaco (COO, Nimbus Sport) and R K Shetty (President IHF) during 1st Season of WSH

File Photo: Yannic Colaco (COO, Nimbus Sport) and R K Shetty (President, IHF) during 1st Season of WSH

The inaugural season of World Series Hockey was a resounding success with the championship being watched in over 30 countries on television and over 65 countries on YouTube. The unique television tune-ins in India was over 32 million; triple that of the English Premier League in the same period.

The 5 week long inaugural tournament created unprecedented buzz in terms of daily prime time action on television and record fan walk-ins in the stadium. An aggressive 360-degree marketing campaign and extensive media coverage resulted in extremely high awareness and consumption of World Series Hockey. Continue reading →