Spirited Jaypee Punjab Warriors ready to take on Kalinga Lancers in Bhubaneswar tomorrow

Bhubaneswar, 31 January 2015: After a thumping 3-1 victory against their arch-rivals Delhi Waveriders in Delhi on Friday 30 January 2015, Jaypee Punjab Warriors will face Kalinga Lancers at their home turf in Bhubaneswar on Sunday, February 1, 2015 and aspire to maintain their winning run in the Hero Hockey India League 2015. Riding on three wins against Kalinga Lancers, Uttar Pradesh Wizards and Delhi Waveriders, the Mohali team is in its best form and leading the points-table with 17 points. A win against home team Kalinga Lancers tomorrow will boost their determination to win the title of Hero HIL 2015.

On the other side, Kalinga Lancers are playing two back-to-back matches this weekend against Uttar Pradesh Wizards today and Jaypee Punjab Warriors tomorrow. After winning the inaugural match against Ranchi Rays, Kalinga Lancers lost their two away matches against Jaypee Punjab Warriors and Uttar Pradesh Wizards. The Bhubaneswar-based team have to materialise their home advantage and continue their unbeatable result at their home turf to remain in the top four positions.

Star-studded Jaypee Punjab Warriors will have an extra advantage of their in-form players such as indestructible Dutch goal-keeper Jaap Stockman teaming with Australian Christopher Ciriello and penalty corner specialist Sandeep Singh in defence line, Australian Rob Hammond and Argentinean Lucas Ray in midfield to provide support to captain Jamie Dwyer of Australia, SV Sunil, Affan Yousuf and Malak Singh in the forward line. The players have capability of changing the game in the last moment, which they did in their recent match against Delhi Waveriders yesterday. Trailing by 0-1 in the first three quarters, the Jamie Dwyer-led team came back with three goals in just six minutes and turned the game in their side.

Being the highest scorers of the Hero HIL 2015, Jamie (3 goals) and Sandeep (4 goals) will continue with their responsibility of creating maximum chances for their team and score goals. However, young guns such as Malak Singh, Affan Yousuf, Gurmail Singh, Dharamvir Singh and Varun Kumar will give their energetic support to the team and maintain the pressure on the opponents. Beating Kalinga Lancers in the previous tie, Coach Barry Dancer of Australia may field some players off their bench strength and give some rest to the regular senior players of the team.

Speaking on tomorrow’s match against Kalinga Lancers, Jaypee Punjab Warriors Coach Barry Dancer said, “We are not taking any team lightly as all the teams in the Hero Hockey India League 2015 have very good players and pool of talented players. Our players are in good form and we are on the right track. We are playing with the right strategies, which are giving positive results to our team. For tomorrow’s match, we will stick to our strategy of quick attacks and may bring some changes in team combination. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s match.”

Jamie Dwyer, Captain, Jaypee Punjab Warriors said, “I endorse what our coach said. We are in a good form and all the players are very motivated. We are playing extremely well, but not taking any team lightly. We have beaten Kalinga Lancers earlier, but now they are on their home turf and will utilise their home advantage. We will play our natural game and try to create maximum chances of scoring goals. Our team is very confident about tomorrow’s match and if everything goes well, we will win the match with a good margin.”

Kalinga Lancers will take on Jaypee Punjab Warriors on 1 February 2015 at 1900 HRS IST at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.

The match will be telecast LIVE on Star Sports.