The first ever edition of women’s Hockey India League (HIL) started in Ranchi on Sunday at the iconic Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Hockey Stadium. Known for hosting prestigious events like the FIH Olympic Qualifiers and the Women's Asian Champions Trophy, the stadium is ready to welcome fans for the grand celebration. Enthusiastic supporters are expected to fill the stands to witness their favorite stars in action. All four teams are geared up for the competition, with the opening match of this historic league taking place on Sunday, January 12, 2025, between the Delhi SG Pipers and Odisha Warriors.
Delhi SG Pipers take on Odisha Warriors to get the ball rolling in the Women's Hockey India League (WHIL) in Ranchi on Sunday. Four teams in contention in the inaugural season: Delhi SG Pipers, Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, Soorma Hockey Club, Odisha Warriors. It was originally announced that there would be six teams, but before the auction that came down to four. Two teams are set to be added from the second season onwards: expected to be Hyderabad Toofans and BC Jindal Group, Mumbai.
All teams will have Indian captains. National team’s current and former captains Salima Tete and Savita Punia will share the leadership duties at Soorma. Current India vice captain Navneet Kaur will lead Delhi, Odisha will be led by Neha Goyal while the costliest player at the auction Udita Duhan is the skipper of Bengal.
Local team Soorma Hockey Club will begin their journey in the much awaited Women’s Hero Hockey India League tomorrow at the Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Astro Turf Stadium in Ranchi. Their first match will be against the Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, a team that looks very strong on paper.
Soorma also have a formidable squad with Indian stalwart Savita taking charge in goal as co-captain with the agile midfielder Salima Tete. They have also secured the services of international stars like Maria Verschoor, Charlotte Stapenhorst, Charlotte Englebert and Penny Squibb.
“We began the camp in Chandigarh on 27 December with Indian players and the overseas players joined us on 2 January. It has been good in the build up phase for us, the camp helped us prepare the team and the players have built their connections over the last two weeks. It is great for athletes to share a dressing room with the best players in the world, it will be a great opportunity especially for the young Indian players to rub shoulders with them and learn from them,” Head Coach Jude Menezes commented.
“We got to Ranchi a couple of days ago, have had a training session before our first game and we look forward to getting into it. The focus in the first match against Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers will be on ourselves, we will aim to do what we do well and everything will look after itself and as we get more intel on how teams play, we will look at it in greater depth,” he added.
Savita, the former Indian Women’s Hockey Team Captain, has been waiting eagerly for the Hero Hockey India League to begin for the Women as well and she expressed her joy saying, “We are very excited, being a senior player I have waited quite a lot for a Women’s HHIL. When the Men’s League began, we saw a significant positive change in their attitude, their mindset and they always mentioned HIL contributed to this. It helped with their development and also helped unearth some good young talents. So, we always thought if we could train with some players from the best hockey teams in the world, like the Netherlands, we can observe their involvement in training and matches, their off the field behavior.”
“India has a lot of talent, and the HHIL is the best platform to develop it and help players financially, it will show Indian parents that the sport has a future. A lot of good things to look forward to from this league,” she added.
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers have an impressive squad themselves with Udita, the costliest player in the League, serving as their Captain. They also have the immensely experienced forward Vandana Katariya leading their forward line. Grace O’Hanlon, Jennifer Rizzo, Grace Stewart, Roisin Upton and Kathryn Mullan are some of their notable international stars along with young players like Hannah Cotter, Fiona Crackles, Beauty Dung Dung and Jyothi Edula.
“There is no stress, we believe in our team, and we have discussed that our aim is to have a good performance and enjoy on the field. There are some young Indian players and foreigners in the Shrachi Rarh Bengal Warriors team that we do not know about so it will be slightly difficult as we don’t know what to expect from them but we have complete confidence in our training and performance to help us get a good start to the league,” Savita concluded.