BANGALORE: The scheduled second round of the player draft for World Series Hockey was held on Friday, with each team strengthening their squads from the pool of players. The first season of WSH starts on February 29.
In this draft, players from Australia, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, South Africa and India were picked by various franchises.
Among the notable picks of the day, Canadian captain Ken Pereira was chosen by Pune Strykers while Australian Mark Harris and Indian Hamza Mujtaba got selected by Chennai Cheetahs. South African Olympian Clyde Abraham was picked by Mumbai Marines while Gagan Ajit Singh, the ace Indian striker, will make his comeback into hockey with Sher-e-Punjab.
Gagan Ajit Singh said: “I’m glad to make a comeback through this prestigious league. I truly believe it will start a glorious new era for Indian hockey and I can’t wait to get started for Sher-e-Punjab. It is a team with a great combination of speed and spirit and I’m sure we’ll play entertaining hockey which will make us championship contenders.”
Preeti Pariat Mehta, Event Director, WSH, said: “All the eight franchises have teams to last an entire season with tough competition for spots in the starting XI. This will ensure that the quality of hockey in the first edition will remain top-notch from start to finish and is fantastic news for the league and our fans.”
LT Nanwani, franchise owner of the Chennai Cheetahs, said: “We are extremely happy with our picks. Mark Harris, Davinderpal Singh, Jasbir Singh, Shivamani, BK Muthanna and Hamza Mujtaba are solid players who will add value at crucial stages of the tournament.”
“London games spot crucial for hockey”
New Delhi: The pain of not qualifying for 2008 Beijing Olympics still rattles him and senior midfielder Ignace Tirkey said it is important that India earns a place in this year’s London Games for the survival of hockey in the country. A member of the Indian team which went down to Great Britain 0-2 in the final of the Olympic qualifiers in Santiago four years ago, Ignace feels hockey might die if this time India doesn’t qualify.
