Eleven more players sign up for WSH

MUMBAI: Current Canada captain Ken Pereira is among 11 players to sign up for the USD 2 million World Series Hockey that will be held from February 29 to April 2 in eight Indian cities.

The others to sign up lately for the league, a joint initiative of Nimbus Sport and Indian Hockey Federation, are Clive Terwin, Geowynne Kyle Gamiet, Lungile Tsolekile and Shanyl Balwanth from South Africa and Adam Froese, Antoni Kindler, Iain Smythe, Mark Pearson, Richard Hildred and Sukhwinder Singh Gabbar from Canada.

The line up from the African and North American regions includes the current Canadian captain and a set of players who have played close to 800 international matches amongst them, a release from WSH said today.

“World Series Hockey is a huge platform to raise the profile of our sport globally. With the diverse mix of international players in the fray, this is a tournament that is truly global. India is a great place to play, the fans are really passionate about the sport. I have some good memories from playing in the WC and CWG in 2010,” said Pereira.

Tsolekile, a forward and one of the four South Africans to sign up for WSH, said, “It’s a great opportunity to be able to play in a tournament of the stature of WSH.”

“For all of my South African counterparts, it is going to be a fantastic learning experience playing with a host of international stars on the same team. World Series Hockey will see a face-off between the best players from around the world and I am proud to be a part of this esteemed event,” he added.

The WSH would involve 200 leading players — Indian and international — who will showcase their talent in 59 matches. The eight venues for the inaugural edition of the league are Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Jalandhar, Mumbai and Pune.