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7 of the top PHL teams to battle for the title in a single tier
PHL goes big; multi venue league to start January 02, 2007 45 matches;
Best of three finals; Chennai and Chandigarh to play co-hosts
New Delhi, October 13, 2006— Indian Hockey Federation (IHF),
India’s apex body for hockey management, today announced big
and important transformations to the third version of country’s
very own Hockey league, The Premier Hockey League (PHL). The league
moves in to a single tier format with the top seven teams of last
year to fight for the title in a two month long tournament co-hosted
by Chennai and Chandigarh. ESPN STAR Sports, which has been entrusted
with the key responsibility of marketing, producing and broadcasting
the hockey
league for a period of ten years, will showcase PHL ‘LIVE’
and exclusive on its network.
Unlike last two years where the league had two tiers with five teams
each, the third edition of the PHL will have the top seven teams
from the last year’s edition battling for the country’s
top Hockey team. The teams have been chosen on the basis of their
performance in last year’s PHL which means that in addition
to the 5 Tier I teams from last year’s PHL – namely, Sher-e-Jalandhar,
Chandigarh Dynamos, Maratha Warriors, Bangalore Lions and Hyderabad
Sultans, the top two teams from Tier II, that is, Orissa Steelers
and Chennai Veerans will be playing in the Premier division.
The Premier division will have the seven teams play each other twice,
in 42 matches, followed by a best of 3 play-off final between the
top two teams in the league like last year. The total number of
matches in all will be 45 and will span a period of two months.
This edition of PHL will also see it move to a multi venue format
with
Chennai to play host for the PHL for the first month, followed by
Chandigarh in the second. All matches will be under lights as before
and will be covered LIVE and exclusive by ESPN STAR Sports.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. KPS Gill, President, Indian Hockey
Federation, said, “The PHL has set new benchmarks as the world
took notice of a completely new, revolutionary league with the third
umpire being introduced for the first time in Indian hockey. Keeping
in accordance with our innovations to make the league more interesting
we have raised the competitiveness in the league. With the best
seven teams from last year’s PHL playing each other, we envisage
a more cut throat competition this year that will be good for Indian
hockey.”
According to Mr. RC Venkateish, Managing Director, ESPN Software
India Pvt Ltd, “We have redefined hockey broadcast with PHL.
The tournament has been a viewing spectacle with comprehensive match
analysis, pre- match and post-match shows, bi-lingual commentary
in English and Hindi. Hockey lovers across the country have loved
and followed PHL for the past two years for the tournament’s
novel concepts and innovations. Innovations like colored jerseys,
foreign players in the domestic league, use of third umpire and
now the top seven teams in the Premier Division will revolutionize
hockey viewing and make PHL the most viewer friendly league in the
country.
Maurits Hendricks, the incumbent coach of the Spanish Team has been
re-appointed the consultant for PHL. Maurits will provide his valuable
inputs to all the participating teams during PHL. He will also be
responsible for short listing foreign players for the league. “
“We are confident that more foreign players will be seen in
action this year as compared to last year. The initial feedback
from the European players has been very heartening,” added
Venkateish.
SS Dasgupta, Chairman & Managing Director, LSM, said, “LSM
with its in-depth knowledge of and involvement with Indian hockey
is very confident that the proposed tournament will be a grand success.
We are currently working on a detailed blue-print to ensure that
PHL dons the look of a grand carnival. We are committed to offering
an international quality experience to hockey fans – they will
get the best of hockey, as well as spectator facilities inside the
stadium.”
Like last year, each game will have four quarters of 17 minutes
and 30 seconds each, instead of the two halves. The winner, within
the stipulated time, will get three points for each victory, while
the team winning in the extra time will share the points 2:1.
For further information, contact:
Bhaskar Majumdar, Manager - Corporate Communications, ESPN Software
India Pvt. Ltd
Mobile: 9811194244, Email: bhaskarm@espnstar.co.in Or Tarundeep
Singh, IPAN at 9811017310, 011- 42492100,
Email: tarundeep.singh@ipan.com
For the latest schedules and programme information visit
www.espnstar.com
For more news on Premier Hockey League visit
www.premierhockeyleague.com
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