Kalinga Lancers to Clash with Delhi Waveriders on Home Soil

The ongoing Hero Hockey India League 2015 is all set to witness the very first clash between the Kalinga Lancers and Delhi Waveriders in the league tomorrow, at Bhubaneswar’s Kalinga Stadium.

With a total of 15 points to its tally, defending Champions- Delhi Waveriders have two wins, two losses and two draws to its name. Playing its seventh game of the League tomorrow against Kalinga Lancers, the Sardar Singh led Delhi Waveriders will bring into play their finest line-up and strategies with an aim to register a win against the Lancers and add five more points to its present tally. Undeterred by the support of the home crowd that the hosts will enjoy, the visiting team will step out on the turf to restrict the Lancers while creating as many scoring opportunities as possible for themselves.

On the other hand, with a lone win to their credit in the league so far, home team Kalinga Lancers are sitting at the bottom of the League table with only nine points and will take to the field with a sole intention of recording a win against the Waveriders and ascend in the points table. Kalinga Lancers’ constant improvement in the league is pretty evident, looking at the last match they lost against Dabang Mumbai in a tightly contested match which they lost by a solitary goal.

Kalinga Lancers and Delhi Waveriders met twice in the previous edition of Hero Hockey India League in 2014, where Delhi Waveriders swiped Kalinga Lancers by 5-0 in the first match, Kalinga Lancers gave a tough fight in the second match but eventually lost the game by 4-3. As Delhi Waveriders will be looking forward to continuing their winning spree over Kalinga Lancers, the hosts will be looking at avenging their past defeats.

Speaking on the upcoming match, Head Coach Jude Felix of Kalinga Lancers said, “The team has been training really hard and our aim is to win every match that we play here on. It is going to be an interesting match tomorrow as Delhi Waveriders is a tough team and as they are the defending champions their sole motive will be to retain the title. We will try and use Delhi Waveriders’ previous defeat against Jaypee Punjab Warriors to our benefit, as we have learned that though the Waveriders’ squad is pretty strong, there are quite a few loop holes that may prove to be advantageous for us.”

Speaking on the match against Kalinga Lancers, Head Coach Cedric D'Souza of Delhi Waveriders said, “The mistakes committed during the last match are being observed minutely and the boys are working rigorously to improve their game. We have the skills and we can do much better in the League. We are working towards our attacking strategies and to better approach during circle penetrations, in order to build up as many opportunities as possible. Tomorrow’s match against Kalinga Lancers will see our team in better shape and breed even better results.”