Dabang Mumbai News

Hockey India League has named its Brand Ambassadors Sardar Singh (India) and Jamie Dwyer (Australia) as well as the world’s most capped player Teun de Nooijer (the Netherlands), Germany’s double Olympic gold medallist Moritz Fuertse and Indians Sandeep Singh and SV Sunil as Marquee Players for the December 16 Hockey India League Auction.

“We are pleased to announce three players each from India and overseas as Marquee Players in the Hockey India League Players’ Auction set for December 16,” said Hockey India Secretary-General and Hockey India League Chairman Dr Narinder Batra. “The six franchises will engage one each of these Marquee Players whose craft makes them huge crowd pullers.

Hockey India League Players’ Auction has been designed in such a way that the teams will bid for the Marquee Players before the other players. “It will ensure that each of the six franchisees will have an equal chance to engage a Marquee Player of its choice,” Dr Batra said. “All teams will place silent bids for all six players and the auctioneer will announce the successful bids.”

The Marquee Players will be available in Delhi to join their respective Franchises during the HIL Players’ Auction that will follow. “It will enable them become a part of their respective team’s thinktank as soon as they are inducted in the squad,” Dr Batra said. “The teams will thus have their coaches and Marquee Players on the table during the auction.”

Each team’s Marquee Player will get a contract worth at least 115 per cent of the highest successful bid for a player in the auction. In fact, if the silent bid is worth more than this amount, the player will be entitled to get the amount mentioned in the silent bid.

Sardar Singh (India)

The 26-year-old centre-half is the current captain of the Indian team. He was picked in the FIH All-Star Teams two years in succession (2010 and 2011) and Player of the Tournament at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2010 and 2012. He has played close to 150 matches for India, scoring 12 goals and was named player of the Tournament at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2010 and 2012.

Jamie Dwyer (Australia)

The 33-year-old has been part of Australian teams which won the Olympic Games gold, the FIH World Championship, five Champions Trophy tournaments and three Commonwealth Games gold medals. He is a five-time FIH Player of the Year, has been selected to FIH All-Star Teams six times and played more than 250 matches for Australia, scoring more than 170 goals.

Tuen de Nooijer (Netherlands)

The 36-year-old glittering international career has spanned 453 matches in 18 years and has seen him win two Olympic Gold medals (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000), two Olympic Silver medals (Athens 2004 and London 2012) and earn a world record 453 caps. Dubbed the Johan Cruyff of hockey, he was part of teams that won the 1998 FIH Hockey World Cup and four FIH Champions Trophy events. He was named FIH Player of the Year in 2003, 2005 and 2006.

Moritz Fuertse (Germany)

The 28-year-old midfielder has been part of teams that have won Olympic gold medals in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, FIH World Cup at Monchengladbach in Germany in 2006 and FIH Champions Trophy in Kuala Lumpur in 2007 besides the 2011 European Championship in Gladbach. He has scored 70 goals in 199 matches for Germany.

Sandeep Singh (India)

The 26-year-old defender is a drag-flick exponent and has been part of the Indian team that won silver medal in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010. He was captain and top-scorer in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup tournament which India won in 2009 after 13 years and in the 2012 Olympic qualifiers in Delhi when he scored 16 goals in the tournament, including five in the final against France.

SV Sunil (India)

The 23-year-old is talented forward. Hailing from Coorg in Karnataka, he sets up goals for others besides also scoring himself. He played his first senior international at the Asia Cup in Chennai in 2007 when India won. He was part of the team that won the Azlan Shah Cup in 2010 and in 2012 when he scored the winning goal against Pakistan.