After a month of non-stop action, the Hockey India League came to an end on Saturday with the Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers becoming champions; beating Hyderabad Toofans in Rourkela's Birsa Munda International Stadium.
For seven years, the HIL went missing from the hockey calendar, with several calls for it to be restarted. After the revival, the HIL lived up to its expectations with high quality matches, the world's best players showing their mettle and India's youngsters making their mark.
Here's an overview of the men's tournament:
How Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers became the champions
The Tigers topped the table, won the semifinal in a shootout and became champions on Saturday thanks to Jugraj Singh's stunning hat trick. They deserved to win the trophy, going by results alone. Apart from JSW Soorma Hockey Club, the Tigers beat all other teams in the league. Even both Soorma matches were a one-goal margin loss and a shootout defeat. So, in a way, they were the best team in the tournament.
But that's not the whole truth. The Tigers' hockey was not the best in the league and they were not completely dominant on the field either. They did however, seize the big moments better than their opponents. The most consistent part of their game plan was that they were practical and sometimes in sports, that's enough to become champions.
They knew Jugraj Singh hit the ground running right from the first match, scoring the first goal of their first match against Hyderabad Toofans. Right from then, they were able to bring Jugraj more into each game by creating penalty corner opportunities. It also helped that they had a calm leader in Rupinder Pal Singh, who was not at his fittest, but his presence at the back brought so much calmness to the team - with him hardly committing any errors. Rupinder's composure rubbed off on Jugraj, who became a better player not only with his dragflicks, scoring 12 goals, but with his defending also.
12 goals from penalty corners, including a hat-trick in the final! Jugraj Singh was on fire in #HeroHIL, and ended as the Top Goal Scorer of the Tournament!#HeroHIL #HockeyKaJashn #HockeyIndiaLeague #HILFinal #HIL @srbt24 @TheHockeyIndia pic.twitter.com/RpJ9bozoEG
- Hockey India League (@HockeyIndiaLeag) February 2, 2025
Head coach Colin Batch from Australia, known for his highly-attacking hockey should also deserve the credit along with his support staff. He let his players do what they were best at and made adjustments according to game situations. It was the second match against the Kalinga Lancers which Batch pointed out as being crucial. They were leading 4-3 in the third quarter but the Lancers had developed the habit of scoring for fun. Before this match, the Lancers beat Tigers 6-0 and in the next one, they made a stellar comeback from 4-2 down to make it 5-5 against Delhi SG Pipers. The Tigers played it smart against the Lancers. They made the pitch compact, concentrated on their defence and scored one more goal to secure a significant 5-3 win in Ranchi. The belief they got after that win was a big boost to their confidence going into the knockouts.
Even in the semifinal, when Sebastien Dockier was out for 10 minutes for a yellow card, the Tigers managed the match very well. They scored the equaliser once they were back to 11 players to make it 2-2 and won the shootout to go through. It's the simple things that they did right and then Jugraj's form did the rest.
Toofans bring the entertainment
What a joy it was to watch Hyderabad Toofans. The Pasha Gademan-coached team was the most eye-catching of the eight in the HIL - thanks to their superb youngsters who made their games a fun watch. Arshdeep Singh was the find of the tournament, his stick work and finishing skills earned him a call up to the national squad. Rourkela's Amandeep Lakra was outstanding with his dragflicks and goalkeeper Bikramjit Singh will sooner or later play for India.
There were others who also stood out. Like Gonzalo Peillat, outstanding in the final, only upstaged by Jugraj Singh. There was Devindar Walmiki, the 32-year-old who last played for India back in 2016, but was impressive with his defensive and attacking work. There was the captain Sumit, who was rock solid throughout. There was Gademan and his support staff Sanjay Bir, Emily Calderon, Robin Arkell who were able to bring the best out of the players. And there was Sidharth Pandey, the team manager who was heavily involved in setting up the entire team, from recruiting talented players and giving them the best support staff.
They may have fallen in the final hurdle, and that too just by one goal but it's a team for the future. Their core is looking good for another four to five years.
Kalinga Lancers, full of goals
The Lancers scored; the Lancers conceded. They scored the most number of goals in the league phase, 31, but they also conceded the same number of goals, also the most in the tournament. Dutch star Thierry Brinkman scored 10 field goals while Belgium's Alexander Hendrickx scored seven penalty corner goals. Arthur van Doren, one of the best players to ever play the sport, was at his usual best. Aran Zaleswski, Boby Singh Dhami and Gursahibjit Singh also impressed.
But the form of India goalkeeper Krishan Pathak wavered. It's a bit harsh considering Lancers, under Valentin Altenburg, played expansive hockey, exposing the goalkeeper more often but the India no. 1 didn't have the best of tournaments.
Reid ends campaign on a furious note
A lot was expected out of Graham Reid, the former India coach who was back in the country with Delhi SG Pipers. They played his attacking brand of hockey but failed to get even one outright win in the tournament. They finished the tournament at the bottom of the table.
In multiple matches, Delhi looked good to snatch the wins but gave the lead away and lost the plot completely. In their final league match, Delhi were leading against the Tigers but conceded twice to lose 2-1. Naturally, a fuming Reid was less than keen to talk in the mixed zone afterwards, perhaps furious with his team's lack of effort on the pitch.
Odd Tournament awards
The player of the tournament award was given to Bengal Tigers' Sukhjeet Singh and the best goalkeeper was Bikramjit Singh. Arshdeep won the best young player of the tournament while Jugraj won the top scorer award.
For being a livewire and providing the spark to @HToofans, and for his goalscoring contributions, Arshdeep Singh is our Upcoming Player of the Tournament!#HeroHIL #HockeyKaJashn #HockeyIndiaLeague #HILFinal #HIL @TheHockeyIndia @FIH_Hockey pic.twitter.com/OTAzegYAMo
- Hockey India League (@HockeyIndiaLeag) February 2, 2025
Sukhjeet and Bikramjit were no doubt good but whether they were as good as Brinkman, Jugraj, Peillat, Vincent Vanasch, David Harte and Jamie Carr is up for debate.
Foreign players keen on returning
Most of the foreign players have spoken highly about the league and want to come back next season if the schedule does not clash with their international assignments. The matches were exciting and both venues had attracted massive crowds.
A few players are on one-year deal so they are not sure if they will be picked again. Whether Hockey India will go for auctions or trades next year is one to watch out for.