HERO HIL: Warriors playing for pride against Waveriders

Jalandhar, February 4, 2013:Jaypee Punjab Warriors would get a last chance to settle scores against Delhi Waveriders in the round-robin stage of the inaugural Hero Hockey India league when they host the league leaders in their last league encounter here at Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.

Both teams have booked their semi-final berths and the result is unlikely to affect the Waveriders, who are safely perched on the top with 44 points.

The Warriors are currently third with 27 points and a win on Tuesday would guarantee them a second or third place finish.

But like all the other teams in the competition, the Warriors have never managed to conquer the domineering Waveriders. However, the hosts would be especially concerned about their inability to even pressurise the opposition enough in their earlier two encounters.

The Warriors, who opened their HIL campaign with a 2-1 loss against the Waveriders, had then brushed aside the defeat as a performance by a yet-to-settle side. But the second loss, 0-3 in New Delhi, would have definitely hurt since the team had no excuse for such a dismal performance.

Even the team management would accept that the margin of loss in both these matches was respectable only because of the performance of their Dutch custodian Jaap Stockmann, who has been brilliant under the bar throughout the tournament.

In both the matches, the experienced goalkeeper saved at least a dozen changes and it would be interesting how much support he can get from the defence line led by Australian Mark Knowles.

The final league encounter is also important for the Warriors to ensure that they go into the knock out stage on a high and the form of their skipper Jamie Dwyer would be the key.

The experienced Aussie has steered the team together in the last few matches and even scored a couple of goals to boost the team’s morale. Will that be enough to stop the Waveriders will be known only on Tuesday night?

Delhi Waveriders coach AK Bansal said that their team will maintain the momentum and play as usual. “As we have already reached the semi-finals, we won’t do much in next few matches. We will continue our strategies and play as usual. But we won’t take the opponents lightly and we will play for victory only,” Bansal stated.

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: DWR player Imran Khan and Talwinder Singh warming up their body before match at Lucknow on Sunday.)