Karnataka Lions

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Karnataka Lions
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Full nameKarnataka Lions
Nickname(s)The Lions
Founded2011
Home ground Bangalore Hockey Stadium, Bangalore
(Capacity 7,000)
OwnerSporting Ace Pvt. Ltd.
CoachJude Felix
Website Official website
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Home
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Away

Karnataka Lions (abbreviated as KL) was a professional field hockey team based in Bangalore, Karnataka that played in the World Series Hockey. The team was led by Indian hockey player Arjun Halappa and coached by former Indian captain Jude Felix. The team was owned by Sporting Ace Pvt. Ltd. (Zentrum Group). Bangalore Hockey Stadium was the home ground of Karnataka Lions.

Contents

Karnataka Lions ended-up as the semi-finalists in the inaugural edition of WSH after being knocked out by Sher-e-Punjab in the semi-final. [1] They finished third in the group stage. Team's penalty corner specialist Len Aiyappa was the top scorer for the team and third overall in the season with 13 goals in 12 matches. [2]

History

2012 season

Karnataka Lions had a bad start to the tournament with three consecutive defeats against Delhi Wizards, Sher-e-Punjab and Bhopal Badshahs. [3] Karnataka opened their account against Chandigarh Comets with a 31 victory at home. [4] Their next five matches fetched them just two victories and three defeats and were seemed to be out of the tournament as they lied at the bottom of the table. They won four in a row in a must win situation and qualified for the semi-finals. They played Chandigarh Comets in their last league match, where they had a big 61 defeat. [5]

Karnataka Lions faced Sher-e-Punjab at their home ground in the semi-final. Karnataka was defeated convincingly despite getting an earlier lead and hence brought their campaign in 2012's season of World Series Hockey to an end. [6] They lost 41 from Punjab who went on to the final to become champions. [7] Majority of the team's goals came through their penalty corner specialist Len Aiyappa, including two hat-tricks against Chandigarh Comets and Bhopal Badshahs. [8] [9] [10]

Franchisee details

Ownership

Logo of Sporting Ace Pvt. Ltd. Sporting Ace Logo.png
Logo of Sporting Ace Pvt. Ltd.

Sporting Ace (a part of the Zentrum Group) owned the Karnataka Lions. [11]

Sponsors

Karnataka Lions have managed to rope in XAGE Mobile as their title & platinum sponsor, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd. (NICE) as the gold sponsor, Slazenger as their equipment partner, Kyazoonga.com as ticketing partners and Radio City as radio partners. Fluid Media, Highlight Advertising, and RVR16 managed the creative duties for the team. Sporting Ace haf in-house managed all the media marketing campaign. [12]

Theme song

Theme song for Karnataka Lions has been composed by National award winning music director Vidyasagar. Lyrics have been written mainly in Kannada by Shabbir Ahmed. [13]

Team composition

[14]

PlayerNationalityMatchesGoals
Goalkeepers
Devesh Chauhan Flag of India.svg  India 15-
Jagdeep DayalFlag of India.svg  India 12-
Strikers
Amar AiyammaFlag of India.svg  India 2
Arjun Halappa (captain)Flag of India.svg  India 123
Dhanraj Pillay Flag of India.svg  India 61
Jarnail SinghFlag of India.svg  India 152
Naveen KumarFlag of India.svg  India 123
Robert AlcantaraFlag of Malaysia 23px.svg  Malaysia 7
S. K. Uthappa Flag of India.svg  India
Vinayak BijwadFlag of India.svg  India 153
Midfielders
Adnan MaqsoodFlag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 15
Arjun AntilFlag of India.svg  India 15
Deepak KulluFlag of India.svg  India 61
Gursev SinghFlag of India.svg  India 13
Ignace Tirkey Flag of India.svg  India
Mohd Rodzhanizam Bin Mat RadziFlag of Malaysia 23px.svg  Malaysia 81
Nagalingaswamy B.Flag of India.svg  India 4
Nitin KumarFlag of India.svg  India 15
Ravipal SinghFlag of India.svg  India 146
Sommanna C.K.Flag of India.svg  India 15
Defenders
Abhishek SinghFlag of India.svg  India 12
Deepak SinghFlag of India.svg  India 4
Inocent KulluFlag of India.svg  India 121
Len Aiyappa Flag of India.svg  India 1213
Sandeep Singh Flag of India.svg  India
Sandeep Singh (U-18)Flag of India.svg  India 151
Zeeshan Ashraf Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan 14

Fixtures and results

2012

Goals for35 (2.33 per match)
Goals against44 (2.93 per match)
Most goals Flag of India.svg Len Aiyappa (13)
Position: 3rd
No.DateScoreOpponentVenueReport
12 March2 - 3 Delhi Wizards Delhi Match 4
23 March1 - 6 Sher-e-Punjab Jalandhar Match 6
35 March1 - 3 Bhopal Badshahs Bangalore Match 11
46 March3 - 2 Chandigarh Comets Bangalore Match 14
58 March1 - 2 Mumbai Marines Bangalore Match 16
610 March5 - 3 Chennai Cheetahs Chennai Match 21
712 March2 - 3 Pune Strykers Pune Match 25
816 March4 - 2 Mumbai Marines Mumbai Match 32
917 March1 - 4 Chennai Cheetahs Bangalore Match 34
1021 March3 - 2 Pune Strykers Bangalore Match 40
1123 March2 - 1 Sher-e-Punjab Bangalore Match 42
1224 March3 - 1 Delhi Wizards Bangalore Match 44
1327 March5 - 2 Bhopal Badshahs Bhopal Match 50
1429 March1 - 6 Chandigarh Comets Chandigarh Match 53
151 April1 - 4 Sher-e-Punjab Bangalore Semi-final 1
Position in league phase: 3rd
Semi-finalists

Statistics

Performance summary
SeasonMatchesWonDrawnLostWin%
2012 1570846.67%
Home840450.00%
Away730442.86%
Overall1570846.67%
Performance details
Goals for35 (2.33 per match)
Goals against44 (2.93 per match)
Most Goals Flag of India.svg Len Aiyappa (13 goals)
Current Position: 3rd
Performance by oppositions
OppositionMatchesWonDrawnLostForAgainstWin%
Bhopal Badshahs 21016550.00%
Chandigarh Comets 21014850.00%
Chennai Cheetahs 21016750.00%
Delhi Wizards 21015450.00%
Mumbai Marines 21015450.00%
Pune Strykers 21015550.00%
Sher-e-Punjab 310241133.33%

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References

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  12. "Sponsors". Karnataka Lions. 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  13. "Song for the Lions". Deccan Chronicle. 22 February 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
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