Chandigarh Dynamos to play Hyderabad Sultans in PHL opener on Dec 20

New Delhi, Dec 7 (UNI) Last year's runners-up Chandigarh Dynamos will take on Hyderabad Sultans in the opening match of the fourth Premier Hockey League starting here from December 20 under a new format.

The eight-team league will have a league cum knockout format from the semi-final stage this year.

The top four teams from the league stage will vie for supremacy in the semi-finals followed by a best of three finals.

In all, there would be 26 matches in the tournament which will feature talented youngsters from the Under-19 and Under-21 hockey teams of India as designated by the Indian Hockey Federation.

The league carries total prize money of Rs. 76 lakhs.

The winning team gets Rs. 40 lakhs, the runners-up Rs. 20 lakhs while the losing semi-finalists pocket prize money of Rs.5 lakhs each.

ESPN will telecast all the matches live.

Schedule: Dec 20: Chandigarh Dynamos vs Hyderabad Sultans 1800 hrs Dec 21: Chennai Veerans vs Maratha Warriors 1530 hrs Dec 21: Orissa Steelers vs Bangalore Hi-Fliers 1800 hrs Dec 22: Sher-e-Jallandhar vs Hyderabad Sultans 1300 hrs Dec 22: Orissa Steelers vs Chandigarh Dynamos 1530 hrs Dec 23: Bangalore Hi-Fliers vs Maratha Warriors 1200 hrs Dec 23: Chennai Veerans vs Sher-e-Jallandhar 1430 hrs Dec 24: Orissa Steelers vs Hyderabad Sultans 1800 hrs Dec 25: Chandigarh Dynamos vs Bangalore Hi-Fliers 1530 hrs Dec 25: Maratha Warriors vs Sher-e-Jallandhar 1800 hrs Dec 26: Orissa Steelers vs Chennai Veerans 1530 hrs Dec 27: Hyderabad Sultans vs Bangalore Hi-Fliers 1800 hrs Dec 28: Chandigarh Dynamos vs Sher-e-Jallandhar 1800 hrs Dec 29: Bangalore Hi-Fliers vs Chennai Veerans 1530 hrs Dec 29: Orissa Steelers vs Maratha Warriors 1800 hrs Dec 30: Sher-e-Jallandhar vs Bangalore Hi-Fliers 1330 hrs Dec 30: Chandigarh Dynamos vs Maratha Warriors 1600 hrs Dec 31: Chandigarh Dynamos vs Chennai Veerans 1630 hrs Jan 1: Chennai Veerans vs Hyderabad Sultans 1500 hrs Jan 2: Hyderabad Sultans vs Maratha Warriors 1800 hrs Jan 3: Orissa Steelers vs Sher-e-Jallandhar 1800 hrs Jan 5 (1st Semi-final): Rank 1 vs Rank 4 1530 hrs Jan 5 (2nd Semi-final): Rank 2 vs Rank 3 1800 hrs Jan 7: 1st Final 1800 hrs Jan 9: 2nd Final 1800 hrs Jan 11: 3rd Final (If Necessary) 1800 hrs UNI