HERO HIL: Waveriders face Warriors hurdle in title hunt

Ranchi, February 8, 2013:Tournament favourites Delhi Waveriders will have to quickly regroup themselves to get their Hero Hockey India League campaign when they take on Jaypee Punjab Warriors in the first semi-final at the Birsa Munda Astroturf Stadium here on Saturday.

The Sardara Singh-led side had been the most dominant outfit in the tournament, going unbeaten till the 12^th and final round of the league stage. However, the law of averages finally caught up with the leaders as they were outplayed 4-1 by the Uttar Pradesh Wizards on Thursday and they will have just one day in between to recover and rejuvenate.

The players looked jaded in their last encounter and though Sardara Singh played down the loss as an aberration which happened because the team rested most of their star players he would also know that the loss of momentum at such a crucial stage can be suicidal for the team.

They can, however, find solace from the fact that they would be facing a team they had thoroughly dominated in the league stage and it is no secret that the Warriors would have a preferred to face the Ranchi Rhinos rather than the Waveriders in the last-four stage.

The Warriors are also coming into the semi-final stage without a win in their last three matches but the Jamie Dwyer led side will be a lot fresher having got a longer rest since their last league game on February 5.

During this period, team coach Barry Dancer would have definitely tried to find a solution to the team’s goal scoring woes that have seen them lose matches in which they held better possession and even penetrated the opposition’s striking circle regularly.

Dancer clearly knows that facing Waveriders is not an easy task. “Pressure in semis is quite different from the pressure in league matches. Games change in the semis. And if the opponents are Delhi Waveriders, then it will be a tough match,” Dancer said on Friday.

The Waveriders don’t have any such worry and the coaching staff would not want to tweak anything in their formation and tactics just because of one loss. All they have to do is to ensure that the loss of momentum is not carried on the field of play on Saturday.

AK Bansal said that tomorrow’s match is a knock-out and must win for every team. “We have a good momentum till now and yesterday’s match didn’t affect us. We rested few key players yesterday and gave chance to young players. Though we lost the match, but it didn’t affect our confidence,” said the coach and added: “We will play aggressively and with attacking style, like previous matches.”

The Hero Hockey India League is organised by Hockey India with official sanction from the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The inaugural season is being played from January 14 to February 10, 2013 in a home-and-away format. The five franchisee-based teams, consisting of the top hockey players from India and around the world, will compete for the prestigious trophy. Hero Motocorp Ltd. is the Title Sponsor of the league while Airtel is the Associate Sponsor. Star Sports, who is the Broadcast Partner, will be telecasting all matches live.

(photo-caption:Moritz Furste along with his coach during press conference at Ranchi on Friday.)