Orissa Steelers beat Sher-e-Jalandhar in the finals to lift the cup, but seriously the crowd count in stadiums this time was something to look for throughout the tournament. It was quite less than the previous seasons and in few matches you could just spot the Ground staff and noone else.
(Orissa vs Jalandhar in the finals. ImageSource:http://www.premierhockeyleague.com)
By the way the finals were quite an affair, with a crowd of 15000 coming to see the showdown between teams from Jalandhar and Orissa. Though the somewhat-home team succumbed to a defeat but still the crowd should have been pleased with kind off hockey on display quite apt for the final. Dilip Tirkey the old standpoint of Indian Hockey was declared the Player of the tournament. Gagan Ajit Singh with 15 goals was the highest scorer in tournament.
Though I didn’t follow the season much but still for an Indian Sports fan much is left desired. In a period just before the world Cup when good cricket telecast was going through a dry spell surely PHL should have generated more excitement than before. It’s hard to imagine when will the glory-days of Indian hockey will be back.
For now, I have stopped thinking. But PHL is still an attempt worthy of a good praise.
Technorati Tags: PHL, Indian Sports, Hockey
