12 Pak players in PHL III

New Delhi, Dec 30 (UNI) Paksitan captain Rehan Butt and his 11 compatriots are among 30 foreign players who have confirmed participation in the third edition of the Premier Hockey League (PHL) getting under way in Chennai from January 4.

For the first time international players from seven countries will play in PHL with Pakistan and the Netherland topping the import with 12 and eight players respectively, Indian Hockey Federation announced today.

Aussie, Spanish, Malaysian and Argentine players will also join the action. adding colours to the local flavour.

The players will be allocated to the teams keeping in mind their strengths and the slot available.

Some of the key names include Australian goal scoring machine Jamie Dwyer, Junior Player of the World Santi Freixa from Spain and Dutch Sander van der Weide.

The foreign players have been classified to play in short stints and some of them will play in the Chennai leg of the league where as some will join their respective teams for the Chandigarh leg. The Pakistani players will, however, stay on for a longer duration.

Announcing the names of foreign players, KPS Gill, President, Indian Hockey federation (IHF), said, ''We are looking at a much bigger and more competitive league this season. With only one tier featuring seven top teams and 30 foreign players confirmed, I am sure Indian Hockey will be the winner at the end of it all.'' The players confirmed to participate are: Australia: Jamie Dwyer, Brent Livermore, Michael McCann; Spain: Santi Freixa, Ramon Alegre, Albert Casas; Malaysia: Jiwa Mahon, Chua Boon Huat, Kelwinder Singh; Netherlands: Sander van der Weide, Ceso van der Vliet, Don Prins, Balder Bomans, Tjeerd Steller, Sebastiaan Westerhout, Thijs de Greeff, Timo Bruinsma; Argentina: Mario Almada; Pakistan: Adnan Maqsood, Imran Warsi, Imran Khan, Mohammed Khan, Sajjad Anwar, Salman Akbar, Adnan Zakir, Shakeel Abbasi, Tariq Aziz, Rehan Butt, Ehsan Ullah, Muhammed Zabair UNI DH SSC VV1722