Hyderabad Sultans face Chennai Veerans in PHL opener on Jan 4

Chandigarh, Dec 27 (UNI) Hyderabad Sultans are pitted against Chennai Veerans in the opening seven-team two-month long Premier Hockey League (PHL) which begins in Chennai on January 4 next year.

The match will be played under lights. In the first week of the tournament which will feature top players of the country as well as 32 foreign players from European countries and Pakistan, seven matches would be played.

Accoding to a PHL spokesman, the Chennai phase of the PHL would conclude with two matches between Chennai Veerans vs Sher-e-Jalandhar and Orissa Steelers vs Maratha Warriors.

After a one-week break, the action in the second week of February will shift to the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium in Chandigarh, with a match between two Punjab teams -- Sher-E-Jalandhar led by Kanwalpreet Singh and last years runners-up Chandigarh Dynamos captained by Rajpal Singh.

Three finals will decide the winners. The first will be played on March 2, second on March 4 and the third on March 5.

Hyderabad Sultans, Chandigarh Dynamos, Chennai Veerans, Sher-e-Jalandhar, Maratha Warriors, Chennai Veerans and Orissa Steelers will fight it out for the top honours in the prize money PHL.

Western Union and ESPN Star Sports are jointly sponsoring Sher-E-Jalandhar and Chandigarh Dynamos. It was in January last year that Western Union signed a three-year contract with ESPN Star Sports to sponsor the top two Punjab teams at the PHL.

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