Kalinga Lancers News

Ranchi, 05 February 2015: The home ground of Ranchi Rays is all pepped up to witness an enthralling game of hockey to be played between Ranchi Rays and Kalinga Lancers in the third edition of Hero Hockey India League 2015 at Astroturf Hockey Stadium, Ranchi tomorrow. In the inaugural match of the league, the two teams had their first encounter where Kalinga Lancers won the match with a score of 6-3.

Aiming to make up for the loss in their previous match, the Ashley Jackson led Ranchi Rays is determined to showcase brilliant stick work not leaving any scope for the opponent to make use of any scoring opportunity they attain. All eyes will be set on Ashley Jackson who scored two amazing goals for his team in the previous clash along with the strong support of Mandeep Singh, Nicolas Wilson and Trent Mitton on the forward line-up, Kothajit Singh, Manpreet Singh, Austin Smith, and Barry Middleton at the midfield along with Birendra Lakra and Justin Reid-Ross at defence.

On the other side, having played five matches, Kalinga Lancers have won one match and lost the other four. The team will be looking at being on the attack from the start of the game as they are well aware that the Ranchi Rays can take the game away from them if they falter anywhere. With the likes of Vickram Kanth who was also awarded as the Man of the Match in the opening match, the team will be looking at repeating the feat of the last encounter and defeating the Ranchi Rays. There will be huge expectations from the drag-flicker specialists Gonzalo Peillat as he is expected to run the extra mile displaying the best of his defending skills tomorrow.

Speaking about tomorrow’s match against Kalinga Lancers, Head Coach of Ranchi Rays, Harendra Singh said, “We have a good run till now and the boys are in good shape. We are improving in every match and trying new strategies against each team. After the impressive win against UP Wizards the team is motivated. Kalinga Lancers is a good team and they have some very talented players. As I had mentioned earlier, all teams in the League are at the same level and we can’t take any team lightly.  We are expecting a tough competition in tomorrow’s match and we are ready for that.”

Captain of Ranchi Rays, Ashley Jackson added, “We are upbeat post our victory against UP Wizards and we want to continue this momentum in tomorrow’s match. We are confident, both mentally and physically, and we are flexible in all kinds of team combinations. We cannot take tomorrow’s match lightly and we have to keep their defence under pressure by attacking. We are excited to play the match and confident to win against them tomorrow.”

Commenting on tomorrow’s match, Head Coach of Kalinga Lancers, Jude Felix said, “Our results are not very impressive but the boys are improving and they are ready to take any challenge. In the last match against Jaypee Punjab Warriors, they showed an impressive performance and dominated through-out the match. We missed many opportunities in that match and we are working on that. I am confident that our team will repeat the same performance in tomorrow’s match where we have the results in our favour. All the players are fit and ready for tomorrow’s match.”

Captain of Kalinga Lancers, Vickram Kanth stated, “We are not happy with the results till now but we are not disappointed. Our team is quite motivated and we will make it the top four positions. We have been improving match by match and we are in good spirit. Ranchi Rays is a very good team and they have shown that they have the ability to beat the best teams in the HIL. Tomorrow’s match will be very competitive and we are excited to face them.”

Ranchi Rays will play against Kalinga Lancers on 06 February 2015 at 1900 HRS IST at Astroturf Hockey Stadium, Ranchi.

The match will be telecast LIVE on Star Sports.