Dabang Mumbai News

Mumbai: Well begun is half begun, goes the age old saying. It stands true even in sporting leagues and Dabang Mumbai star Glenn Turner believes that winning the first two games at home in the Hero Hockey India League would be important for the team to gain momentum.

The experienced Australian has been part of the Hero Hockey India League (HHIL) said the newly formed Mumbai franchise has a fantastic mixture of youth and experience and has set themselves a realistic target of making it to the last four.

 “Momentum in the first two games is going to be crucial. If we get that then we can expect to have a good tournament. We have been practicing really hard for the last one week and the team has really bonded well. I think we can set the ball rolling by winning these two games,” said Turner.

“Playing at home is a huge, huge advantage. We really want to give the fans something back this year, so we are really going to try and put on some good performance at home,” he added.

Dabang Mumbai will open their campaign in the third edition of the competition against Jaypee Punjab Warriors on January 23 and will take on Ranchi Rays a day after at the Mahindra Hockey stadium.

While the team has been gearing up for the HIL 2015, they played an exhibition Gully Hockey match with the Mumbai Police as part of Dabang Mumbai’s endeavour to promote that hockey can be played anywhere and everywhere without depending on the availability of an artificial turf.

And later bunch of young boys who were lurking around to watch the players were so excited with the format that they also tried their hand with the format with the Dabang Mumbai players who not only had fun playing with the youngsters and also gave tips on hockey skills and approach.

“With no turf and usual framework of play, the boys came out and played some Gully Hockey, which was fun!” said Tom boon, the most expensive buy of HHIL.