Chandigarh, January 16
The second week of the Premier Hockey League was marked by upsurge of Bangalore Lions and to some extent Sher-e-Jallandhar but on the whole, it was Chandigarh Dynamos who were the real darlings of the crowd.
Chandigarh Dynamos played two matches and won both. Chandigarh Dynamos played like a team possessed. As their team theme says ‘They are determined to succeed, they stand for excellence and substance’. This proved correct for Dynamos led by Rajpal Singh as they are now at the top of the league tally with nine points having gained three wins from three matches they played. They remained the darling of more than 15,000 strong crowd. Sunday’s glorious win against Bangalore Lions has raised chances of Dynamos claiming the title.
Deepak Thakur the dashing forward playing for Dynamos was in full form when he slapped his critics with a magnificent performance. His fine play in PHL has raised fingers on the Indian Hockey Federation selectors as to why he was dropped from the Champions Trophy held recently in Chennai.
Balder Bamons of Netherlands, who plays for Dynamos deserved kudos, for playing a superb game and two goals on Sunday
corroborated the fact that given the conditions, Balder was capable of adjusting in any playing
surroundings.
The superb game play exhibited by Deepak Thakur was an
eye opener for the selection committee of the Indian Hockey Federation. An ardent hockey lover said, ‘Deepak would have been the
captain of the Indian hockey team as he is the senior most but the
politics let him down in the Champions trophy”. The local people were happy to see the hockey matches live after the boring cricket matches played between India and Pakistan. One fan quipped, ‘This sport is good as it is result oriented and one can know the result after maximum 70 or 80 minutes unlike cricket which has monotonous time-frame”.
Bangalore Lions, the team that played two matches, has also gained confidence as they mauled Sher-e-Jallandhar and then played a heroic game with Dynamos.
The third umpire was used in two matches that were played on January 15 and 16, one between Sher-e-Jallandhar and Bangalore Lions and in second where ‘Lions’ played against Dynamos.
Rehan Butt of Pakistan was also
successful in proving his prowess.
Maratha Warriors will now have to prove their worth against Dynamos whom they play next week while
Hyderabad sultans and Sher-e-Jallandhar might not make it to the finals on the basis of points which they have secured so far.
