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Cheetahs and Pune Strykers in World Series Hockey. The team will be spearheaded by ace striker Lucas Vila as captain and one of the world?s best coaches - Roelant Oltmans.
Communication and entertainment company Wizcraft International has acquired the Delhi franchise of World Series Hockey. Wizcraft has been instrumental in shaping the event management and brand activation industry in India.
Wizcraft International director Sabbas Joseph said, "We have always been associated with marquee sports events like the ICC World Cup 2011, Indian Premier League and the Commonwealth Games. We see tremendous opportunity in sports in terms of a business and more importantly in building a loyal fan base. This is an important step that will further expand the canvas for Wizcraft and help build a strong following for our national game. The only way for the national sport is up. Nimbus has brought a lot of passion, dedication to the event. The touch and feel of this event has been professional which is what it should be."
Nimbus Sport COO Yannick Colaco added, "We are delighted to welcome one of India?s biggest entertainment companies - Wizcraft International to the WSH family. We see tremendous opportunity in marrying sports and entertainment and with the extensive global experience that Wizcraft possess; they make a fantastic partner for WSH."
He acknowledges that it took longer than anticipated to sign up the franchises. "We have been in talks with them for a long time. There were details that had to be worked upon. 15 years is a long term commitment and we wanted to make sure that all the bases were covered."
More franchise owners will be announced in the coming days. Apart from Delhi Wizards, Karnataka Lions, Chennai Cheetahs and Pune Strykers the other city based franchises are located in Bhopal, Chandigarh, Punjab and Mumbai. Hyderabad will be added next year added Colaco.
He has also clarified that Pakistani players will take part in WSH. They have got the necessary clearances from their government. Meanwhile the players draft for WSH took place today. Bhopal which is being captained by Sardar Singh has in its lineup the likes of Waseem Ahmed, Baljeet Singh, Casey Henwood and Baljinder Singh. Chandigarh will be captained by Rehan Butt and has got the likes of PR Sreejesh, Bharat Chikara and Ajitesh Roy. Chennai is being captained by Brent Livermore. It has in its team the likes of Bharat chetri, Amit prabhakar, Peter Kelly and Dhananjay Mahadik.
Delhi is being captained by Lucas Vila and has drafted the likes of Manoj Antil, Vickram Kanth, Manjeet Kulu and Shakeel Anbbasi. Karnataka is being captained by Arjun Halappa and has a high profile draft in Dhanraj Pillai. Mumbai is being captained by Adrian DeSouza. It has drafted Viren rasquinha, SV Sunil, Yuvraj Walmiki among others. Pune which is being captained by rodrigo Garcia has drafted among others Vikas Pillay, Diwakar Ram and Gurpreet Singh Guri. Punjab is being cptained by Prabhjot Singh and has drafted the likes of VS Vinaye, Dinesh Ekka, Mark Gunther and Steven Faiij.
The WSH will be held from 17 December, 2011 to 22 January, 2012 and will involve 200 players -- Indian and international -- who will showcase their talent in 61 matches. It will be a multi-city franchise-based League with players being allocated to the teams based on the internationally accepted and practiced ?draft? system.
Also Read:
WSH gets Chennai Cheetahs as first franchisee
Suniel Shetty to spearhead WSH franchise Karnataka Lions
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