Punjab Hockey League to begin on June 29

Jalandhar June 27

Hockey Punjab and Roundglass Sports have decided to organise the Punjab Hockey League (PHL) for raising the level of sport in Punjab. The Punjab Hockey League would be inaugurated on June 29 at Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in the city.

The final match of the league, which would last for at least two months, would be played on August 25.

This is the first time when the league is being organised for six leading hockey academies of Punjab. Teams from Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Hockey Academy, Amritsar, Namdhari Sports Academy, Roundglass Punjab Hockey Academy, PIS Ludhiana, and Punjab State Institute of Sports, Mohali, would participate in the league.

All teams would play 10 league matches each, out of which five would be at their home ground and five at other teams’ grounds. The matches would be played in AstroTurf stadiums in Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Mohali only on Saturdays and Sundays.

Giving information about the composition of the teams, officials from the Surjit Hockey Academy said each team would have 25 players in which seven players would be under 19 while 18 players would be under 17.

The team that wins each match would get three points. If the match remains tied then its result would be decided by shoot-out as per FIH rules. The team that wins the match through shoot-out would get two points and the losing team one point. Only players registered with Hockey India would play in this league.

Technical delegate of the league Harinder Singh Sangha and umpire manager Gurinder Singh Sangha said, “Best national umpires and technical officials of Punjab have been appointed for the league. The first match would be played at 4 pm and the second match at 5.30 pm on every Saturday and Sunday. All rules of the FIH would be implemented in the league so that budding players can benefit from it in the future.”