The much-talked franchise-based hockey league, Hockey India League (HIL) is returning to action after a hiatus of seven years.
The league was started in 2013 by Hockey India for the first time and continued till 2017 registering five seasons before closing down due to an unsustainable and loss-making financial model.
Hockey India, the governing body of the sport, brought back the league after a wait of seven years in 2024 and will feature a revamped format with eight teams in the men’s competition and four teams in the inaugural women’s competition.
With the men’s tournament starting tomorrow, Read takes a look at the previous season’s champions of the tournament:
HIL 2013: Ranchi Rhinos
The inaugural season of the Hockey India League had five teams that played the tournament in home and away format with playoffs being introduced after the league phase.
Delhi Waveriders, Punjab Warriors, Ranchi Rhinos, and Uttar Pradesh Wizards made it to the playoffs with Mumbai Magicians being the only team to be eliminated.
Led by the legendary Mortiz Fuerste, Ranchi Rhinos defeated Delhi Waveriders 2-1 in the final to clinch the first-ever HIL title.
Despite losing the final, Sardar Singh of Delhi Waveriders won the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award and Sandeep Singh of Mumbai Magicians finished the tournament as the highest scorer with 11 goals.
HIL 2014: Delhi Waveriders
The second season of the HIL added one more team in the form of Kalinga Lancers and followed the same format of League phase and knockouts.
Kalinga Lancers and Mumbai Magicians were the two teams eliminated as the playoff line-up remained the same as the first season.
Defending champions Ranchi Rhinos were eliminated in the semis with Punjab Warriors setting up a final clash against Delhi Waveriders. Season one runner-up Delhi defeated Punjab Warriors in a thrilling final to clinch the title.
Jaap Stockmann of Punjab Warriors won the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award while Sandeep Singh again finished as the goal scorer with 11 goals but this time with runner-up Punjab Warriors.
HIL 2015: Ranchi Rays
The third season of the tournament saw the Ranchi and Mumbai franchises rebranding themselves as Ranchi Rays and Dabang Mumbai respectively.
There was no change in the playoff lineup again as Delhi, UP, Ranchi, and Punjab finished in the top four of the points table to enter the playoff round.
Led by Ashley Jackson and coached by Harendra Singh, Ranchi Rays lifted the title after defeating Punjab Warriors in a frantic penalty shootout.
Ashley Jackson had a season to remember as he finished as the highest goal scorer with 12 goals and won the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament award.
HIL 2016: Punjab Warriors
It was third time lucky for Punjab Warriors in the fourth season of the HIL as they finally lifted the trophy defeating Kalinga Lancers 6-1 in the final.
This was the second title for Indian midfielder Sardar Singh who guided Punjab after joining them ahead of the season. Dabang Mumbai once again finished outside of the playoff spot along with UP Wizards.
Indian drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh (Delhi Waveriders) was named the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament while Australian forward Glenn Turner (Kalinga Lancers) finished as the highest scorer of the tournament with 15 goals.
HIL 2017: Kalinga Lancers
In the last season of the HIL, Kalinga Lancers lifted their first-ever title defeating Dabang Mumbai 4-1 in the final.
This was the second HIL title for Kalinga Lancers captain Mortiz Fuerste who had earlier won the title with Ranchi Rhinos in the first season.
Florian Fuchs of Dabang Mumbai won the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament while the Kalinga Lancers duo of Fuerste and Turner finished as joint highest goal scores with 12 goals each.
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