Home favourites Tamil Nadu Dragons face Hyderabad Toofans in HIL opener

Chennai, Jan 2 (PTI) Accord Tamil Nadu Dragons will bank on the home support with they cross swords with Hyderabad Toofans in the opening match of the men's Hockey India League (HIL) here on Saturday.

The second edition of the revived Hockey India League and is scheduled to be held in multi-cities, starting with Chennai before it moves to Ranchi and ends in Bhubaneswar with the final scheduled for January 26.

The Toofans had finished runners-up in the last edition, having lost narrowly to the title-winner Shrachi Bengal Tigers. While Toofans will be looking to change their fortunes this edition, the Tamil Nadu Dragons will be vying to start on a high note after missing out on the 3rd place finish last season.

This season will have a single round-robin stage, with the top four teams advancing to the knockout rounds, unlike the previous edition, which split the teams into two groups of four teams for the first phase.

In the playoffs, the top 2 teams will compete against each other in Qualifier 1, with the winner advancing to the final and the loser going into Qualifier 2.

The second team of Qualifier 2 will be decided by the winner of Eliminator 1, which will be against the team ranked 3rd and 4th on the league table.

Among the top Indian players to watch out for this season are India captain Harmanpreet Singh (JSW Soorma Hockey Club), Hardik Singh (HIL GC), Manpreet Singh (Ranchi Royals) and Rupinder Pal Singh, who returns to competitive hockey with SG Pipers.

Junior World Cup bronze medallists will also be in action, with India captain Rohit and Dilraj Singh representing SG Pipers, Amir Ali and Manmeet turning out for Ranchi Royals, Sunil PR playing for Vedanta Kalinga Lancers and Prince Deep Singh for Accord Tamil Nadu Dragons.

Among the foreign stars, Tom Boon will feature for Ranchi Royals, Christopher Ruhr for Shrachi Bengal Tigers, Vincent Vanasch and Victor Wegnez for Soorma Hockey Club, Arthur Van Doren and Alexander Hendrickx for Vedanta Kalinga Lancers, and Sam Ward for HIL GC. PTI APA KHS