Premier Hockey League

Last updated

Premier Hockey League
Phl logo1.jpg
Sport Field Hockey
Founded2005
Ceased2008 [1]
No. of teams7:
Hyderabad Sultans
Sher-e-Jalandhar
Maratha Warriors
Bangalore Lions
Chandigarh Dynamos
Chennai Veerans
Orissa Steelers
CountryFlag of India.svg  India
Last
champion(s)		 Bangalore Hi-fliers
Most titles Bangalore Hi-fliers (2 titles)
TV partner(s) ESPN
Official website premierhockeyleague.com

Premier Hockey League (PHL) was a professional field hockey league in India. There were seven teams in the PHL. The competition was held every year from 2005 until 2008.

Contents

History

Bangalore Lions after winning PHL in 2006 Banglore lions.jpg
Bangalore Lions after winning PHL in 2006

The competition conceptualized by Anurag Dahiya of ESPN Star Sports was created and promoted in partnership with Leisure Sports Management (LSM) and sanctioned by Indian Hockey Federation (IHF). It was first played in 2005 involving 5 teams with active support from sports channel ESPN India. First season had two tiers division 1 and division 2 but from 2007 season onwards division 2 was scrapped. Except team winning 2006 division 2 championship rest all teams in division 2 were scrapped. The competition was disbanded in 2008. [2]

The 5 inaugural members of the new Premier Hockey League in 2005 were Bangalore Hi-Fliers, Chennai Veerans, Hyderabad Sultans, Maratha Warriors and Sher-e-Jalandhar.

Competition

Format

Regular season of PHL run between December and January. Since the inaugural season, the format has varied regularly. According to the last format, each team played each other once in a single round robin format (21 matches) in the regular league season, then the top four play the semifinals (1 vs. 4 and 2 vs. 3), followed by the finals, adopting a best of three format. There was a total of 26 matches for each session.

During a PHL match, points that contribute to team standings could be earned in the following ways:

In case of no winner has been decided after completion of a match and two periods of extra time, the winner of the match will be determined by a shoot-out competition.

New features

The fundamental aberration from the format of normal hockey games is the number of sessions. A normal 70-minute hockey game includes two sessions, each of 35 minutes each. The PHL had four sessions each of 17.5 minutes. This format was tailor-made to include more advertising time in order to generate funds.

If the match is deadlocked after full-time, the number of players of each team got gradually reduced till a result is obtained. A win within full-time fetched three points, whereas a win after full-time fetched two points to the winning team and one to the losing team. Each team was allowed to field up to five international players.

In addition, another feature of the PHL for the year 2007 has been the innovative penalty shootout competition, modelled similar to the ice hockey. Each team had five penalties. The player can take as many shots possible within the stipulated 8 secs.

Another interesting feature of PHL were timeouts. Each team was allowed 2 x 120 second timeouts per team in regulation time. These timeouts were mandatory and had to be taken once in each half of play. There will be a warning from the bench 5 minutes before the end of the second/fourth quarter if the team has still not availed of the mandatory timeout. 2 minutes from the end of the second/fourth quarter the timeout could be imposed by the technical bench if the team has still not availed of it.

In addition, each team was allowed 1 x 2 minute timeout which could be taken at any point in time during the regulation time.

Players

A team shall consist of maximum of 18 (eighteen) players to be registered with PHDPL. At any given point of time, minimum 2 players of foreign origin shall be within the field of play during the course of a game.

International players

There are a number of players from countries other than India, who have been contracted to play in the league.

Results

Impact and legacy

At the time of launch, many in the Indian hockey circles were delighted with the intention of reviving the flagging sport. Experts accused the Indian Hockey Federation of being too lethargic and bureaucratic in popularizing the sport. Hockey players of the likes of Sohail Abbas excited a number of youngsters and drew them towards the game. Critics argued that traditional hockey bastions such as Kodagu, Jharkhand, Odisha and parts of Punjab were ignored and the organizers stated that in due course of time more teams would be included.

PHL did gain some ground in popular culture. Famously, in a scene in the hit Bollywood movie, Chak De! India, a character could be spotted wearing a PHL fan jersey. The league also had a long-lasting impact on the sport of field hockey globally, and commercial leagues in other sports that followed PHL in India. In field hockey, the biggest shift was the move away from 2 halves of 35 minutes each to 4 quarters of 17.5 minutes each. This measure, originally pioneered by PHL as quickening the pace of the game, has survived to this day. PHL's introduction of franchise teams This served as a template for later sports leagues including the IPL.

However, after 4 successful seasons, the Premier Hockey League ceased to exist. It has made way to another similar formatted tournament, the Hockey India League.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dhanraj Pillay</span> Indian field hockey player

Dhanraj Pillay is a retired Indian field hockey player and former captain of the India national team. He also looks after the Air India Sports Promotion Board as a Joint Secretary based in Mumbai. For the last 5 years, Dhanraj is overseeing the SAG Hockey Academy in Gujarat funded by the Gujarat Government. He is widely regarded as one of the best Indian players of hockey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time-out (sport)</span> Intentional delay in sports

In sports, a time-out or timeout is a halt in the play. This allows the coaches of either team to communicate with the team, e.g., to determine strategy or inspire morale, as well as to stop the game clock. Time-outs are usually called by coaches or players, although for some sports, TV timeouts are called to allow media to air commercial breaks. Teams usually call timeouts at strategically important points in the match, or to avoid the team being called for a delay of game-type violation, such as the five-second rule in basketball.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ignace Tirkey</span> Indian field hockey player

Ignacious "Ignace" Tirkey is an Indian field Hockey player. He plays as a Fullback and has captained the Indian team.

The Orissa Steelers are the winners of the Premier Hockey League 2007, India's former national level field hockey tournament. The originally proposed name for the team was Rourkela Steelers, after the city which is said to be the hockey Capital of Orissa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Premier League</span> Franchise T20 cricket league annually held in India

The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as the TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's Twenty20 (T20) cricket league held annually in India. Founded by the BCCI (the Board of Control for Cricket in India) in 2007, the league features ten state or city-based franchise teams. Most popular and biggest cricket league, it usually takes place during the summer for 2 months, between March and May each year. It has an exclusive window in the ICC Future Tours Programme, resulting in fewer international cricket tours occurring during the IPL seasons.

The Hyderabad Sultans was the Indian Premier Hockey League team from Hyderabad. The squad was captained by Sardara Singh in the 2008 edition. They were winners of the first Premier Hockey League in 2005.

The 2009 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 2 or the 2009 IPL, was the second season of the Indian Premier League, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The tournament was hosted by South Africa and was played between 18 April and 24 May 2009. It was the second biggest cricket tournament in the world, after the Cricket World Cup, and was forecast to have an estimated television audience of more than 200 million people in India alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangalore Hi-Fliers</span>

The Bangalore Hi-Fliers were a Premier Hockey League (PHL) team, based in Bangalore, Karnataka. Initially known as the Bangalore Lions, the team was led by Tushar Khandekar. The Hi-Fliers won the PHL twice, in 2006 and in 2008, more than any other team.

The 2007 Premier Hockey League Season was the third season of the Premier Hockey League, and was played in two phases in Chennai and Chandigarh. 7 teams participated: Orissa Steelers, Sher-e-Jalandhar, Bangalore Lions, Hyderabad Sultans, Maratha Warriors, Chandigarh Dynamos and Chennai Veerans. Orissa Steelers won the title in 2007. Sher-e-Jalandhar was the runners up.

The 2008 Premier Hockey League Season was the fourth, and most recent season of the Premier Hockey League. It was won by Bangalore Hi-Fliers who took home prize money of Rs. 4 million. Chandigarh Dynamos finished second and Hyderabad Sultans ended up on third place.

The 2010 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 3 or the 2010 IPL, was the third season of the Indian Premier League, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The tournament was hosted by India and had an estimated television audience of more than 200 million people in the country. It was played between 12 March and 25 April 2010. It was also the first ever cricket tournament that was broadcast live on YouTube. The final four matches of the tournament were screened in 3D across movie halls in India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 World Series Hockey</span> Season of an ndian hockey league

2012 World Series Hockey better known as Bridgestone World Series Hockey, abbreviated as Bridgestone WSH, was the first season of the hockey tournament World Series Hockey, a professional league for field hockey in India. The tournament was to take place from 17 December 2011 to 22 January 2012 but later was postponed to 29 February 2012 owing to Olympic qualifiers. Eight teams took part in this competition. The opening ceremony and the first match was held at Sector 42 Stadium, Chandigarh, where Bhopal Badshahs beat Chandigarh Comets 4–3.

The 2015 Indian Premier League season was the eighth season of the Indian Premier League, a Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The tournament featured eight teams and was held from 8 April 2015 to 24 May 2015. The tournament's opening ceremony was held at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on 7 April 2015. Kolkata Knight Riders were the defending champions having won the title in the 2014 season.

The 2016 Indian Premier League final was a day/night Twenty20 cricket match on 29 May 2016 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore, which was played between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore to determine the winner of the 2016 season of the Indian Premier League, an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament in India. In case play was not completed on 29 May, the Final would have resumed on 30 May, the allotted reserve day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Indian Premier League</span> Cricket Tournament

The 2017 Indian Premier League season was the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the BCCI in 2007. The tournament featured the eight teams that played in the previous season. The 2017 season started on 5 April 2017 and finished on 21 May 2017, with Hyderabad hosting the opening match and the final. Mumbai Indians won by 1 run against Rising Pune Supergiant in the final, winning their third title making them the first team to achieve the milestone. The tagline Dus saal aapke naam. This was the last time that Sony Television Network broadcast the tournament before Star Sports Network took the broadcasting rights from the 11th season and are currently bearing the broadcasting rights for the tournament.

The 2018 Indian Premier League season was the eleventh season of the Indian Premier League, a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the BCCI in 2007. The season, which was held from 7 April to 27 May, saw the return of the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals after serving two years of suspension for the involvement of their respective owners in the 2013 IPL betting case. Star Sports purchased the media rights at ₹16,347.5 crore for five years starting from 2018. The tagline was Best vs Best.

The 2021 Indian Premier League was the fourteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007.

The 2022 Indian Premier League was the fifteenth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a professional Twenty20 cricket league established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The tournament was played from 26 March 2022 to 29 May 2022. The group stage of the tournament was played entirely in the state of Maharashtra, with Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune hosting matches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Indian Premier League</span> 16th edition of the Indian Premier League

The 2023 Indian Premier League was the 16th season of the Indian Premier League, a franchise Twenty20 cricket league in India. It is organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

References

  1. ↑ "Dhanraj Pillay bats for hockey league in India | undefined News - Times of India". The Times of India. 16 January 2010.
  2. ↑ "Dhanraj Pillay bats for hockey league in India | undefined News - Times of India". The Times of India. 16 January 2010.
  3. ↑ "Hyderabad Sultans win PHL title". sports.ndtv.com. 25 February 2007. p. 1. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
  4. ↑ "Bangalore Lions win Premier Hockey League". www.rediff.com. 1 February 2006. p. 1. Retrieved 1 February 2006.
  5. ↑ "Orissa Steelers thrash Chennai Veera". https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com . 26 February 2007. p. 1. Retrieved 26 February 2007.{{cite news}}: External link in |work= (help)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.