Pune Strykers, true to their name, struck the death knell for Mumbai Marines in the last quarter, firing in three goals to beat their fancied rivals 7-5 in their opening match of the World Series Hockey.
The home crowd had plenty of reasons to celebrate as favourites Sher-E-Punjab launched their World Series Hockey (WSH) campaign with a convincing 5-2 win over Chennai Cheetahs.
Images from the World Series Hockey inaugural match between Chandigarh Comets and Bhopal Badshahs in Chandigarh, on Thursday.
World Series Hockey organisers on Thursday dangled an attractive cash carrot of Rs two crore in front of the players of the Indian squad who have signed up with them if they pilot the country to the gold in the London Olympics by breaking a 32-year-old medal jinx.
Former captain Rajpal Singh has taken his axing from the Indian team in his stride and is confident he will be recalled to the national squad after the Olympic qualifiers in Delhi later this month.
Players being warned by the FIH to stay from the World Series Hockey is a "serious issue", says the event's Delhi franchise coach Roelant Oltmans but he is hopeful that the deadlock will be sorted out soon.
Former India captain Viren Rasquinha is all set to make a comeback to competitive hockey with the inaugural edition of World Series Hockey to be held across the country from December 17 to January 22 next year.
Former India coach Joaquim Carvalho who is now involved with the World Series Hockey (WSH) project feels that the tournament can prove to be a good platform to judge players who can be picked for the national team.
Unperturbed by the FIH diktat asking member countries to either stay away from the World Series Hockey or risk Olympics exclusion, the organisers of the league on Thursday said they will "go ahead" as planned and seek legal recourse against the game's governing body if necessary.
Hockey India appointed former Olympic gold-medallist V Baskaran as a coach of the men's national team on Wednesday and he will work under the recently-appointed chief coach Terry Walsh.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
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