Delhi Wave Riders News

Ranchi, 22 January 2013: Ranchi Rhinos would be banking on the vociferous supporters for inspiration as they aim to halt the march of league leaders Delhi Waveriders in their second home game of the Hero Hockey India League at the Astroturf Hockey Stadium on Wednesday.

There was not a single seat vacant in the stadium when the Rhinos played their first home game against Dabur Mumbai Magicians and the team rode the wave of support to overpower their opposition.

However, the Rhinos would need to do a lot more on Wednesday given the form Waveriders are in. The Delhi outfit scored at will against the Magicians on their home turf in Mumbai to win a 10-goal thriller 6-4 on Monday and would be riding a wave of confidence when they visit the Jharkhand capital looking to extend their lead at the top.

The Sardar Singh led side has dropped just three points when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Uttar Pradesh Wizards in their first away game but on Monday they were quick to allay any concerns about their away form.

The only concern for the visitors would be their lack of penalty corner conversion and they are surely missing the Dutch star Taeke Taekema, who was ruled out of the competition due to a back injury a few days before the start of the tournament.

India international Rupinder Pal Singh has been deputising for the Dutch legend but has managed to score just one goal for about 10 attempts and Ranchi won’t mind conceding penalty corners if the Waveriders manage to continuously penetrate their citadel as they did against the Magicians.

Almost all their strikers have been in good form and are sure to test Rhinos’ custodian Francisco Juncosa Cortes and their defence throughout the four quarters.

While the Waveriders would look to continue from where they left in Mumbai, the Rhinos would have to regroup quickly after their loss to the Uttar Pradesh Wizards, their first in the competition.

The team had looked out of sorts after their midfield formation was breached and Coach Gregg Clark and his assistant Baljit Singh Saini must be already working on a Plan ‘B. How effective that would be only time will tell.

Having said this, Ranchi Rhinos has a young team with the likes of Manpreet Singh and Birendra Lakra who have been part of many prestigious tournaments and have good prospect to make to bigger teams in the near future while the Delhi team has a more experienced lot of players.

Speaking about this AK Bansal, Coach Delhi Waveriders said “Post last night’s win, the team has cultivated a good momentum and we would like to maintain this in tomorrow’s game as well. The Ranchi Rhinos team is one of the toughest teams in this league with young players who have had vast hockey experience, so taking them lightly is not an option. We would consider this team as one of our biggest opponents and we will us our player’s vast experience against them”.

Commenting on tomorrow’s game Coach Gregg Clark, Ranchi Rhinos said “The game is obviously going to be a tough one; Delhi Waveriders are a strong team and are currently topping the table. We are looking to repeat our performance from our first game here, since this is our home ground. The rest day has helped us and we hope to play with a much higher tempo tomorrow than what we displayed against Uttar Pradesh Wizards”.

The Hero Hockey India League is organised by Hockey India with official sanction from the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The inaugural season is being played from January 14 to February 10, 2013 in a home-and-away format. The five franchisee-based teams, consisting of the top hockey players from India and around the world, will compete for the prestigious trophy. Hero Motocorp Ltd. is the Title Sponsor of the league while Airtel is the Associate Sponsor. Star Sports, who is the Broadcast Partner, will be telecasting all matches live.

Wednesdays game 23^rd January: Ranchi Rhinos vs Delhi Waveriders at Astroturf Hockey Stadium at 8 p.m.