Pune Strykers (abbreviated as PS) was an Indian professional field hockey team based in Pune, Maharashtra that played in the World Series Hockey. The team was owned by Sai Grace Sports & Events Private Limited. PCMC Hockey Stadium in Pune is the home ground of Pune Strykers.
Pune Strykers ended up as the runner-up of the inaugural edition of World Series Hockey. They lost to Sher-e-Punjab by 5 goals to 2 in the final. Team's penalty corner expert Gurpreet Singh was their top-scorer with 12 goals.
History 2012 season Pune Strykers suffered a major setback when they lost their captain Diwakar Ram due to injury just before the commencement of the tournament. Pune Strykers started their campaign with a victory over Mumbai Marines in a see-saw battle at Mahindra Hockey Stadium in Mumbai by 7–5. They continued with a victory over Delhi Wizards, but drew next three matches. Their undefeated run came to an end when they lost to Chandigarh Comets 3–1. They defeated table-toppers Sher-e-Punjab and Bhopal Badshahs in their final two matches. A defeat of Chennai Cheetahs by Mumbai Marines gave them their semi-final berth.
Finishing fourth on the table, they faced Chandigarh Comets in the semi-final. Down by 4–1, they struck thrice in the final 10 minutes to extend the match into the penalty shoot-out, which they won by 3–2 and entered the final to face Sher-e-Punjab. They were defeated and hence ended up at number 2 position.
Pune Strykers staged some of the brilliant comebacks in WSH 2012 and were often referred to as Masters of Comeback, the first of which came against Mumbai Marines in their opening match. They won by 7–5 despite trailing 5–3. They managed to draw with Sher-e-Punjab (3–3 from 3–1). In a must win situation, they lagged behind Bhopal Badshahs by 4 goals to 1 but ended up winning by 5–4. The greatest of all comebacks came in the semi-final against the Comets where Strykers trailed for the majority of the regulation time, but made a dramatic comeback, winning 3–2 in a penalty shoot-out.
Franchise details Ownership Sai Grace Sports and Events Private Limited (SGSEPL) was the owner of the Pune franchise. The director of SGSEPL, Manoj Choudhary, is the promoter of Jewel Products, one of India’s leading corporate companies.
Team anthem Pune Strykers anthem was sung by Shankar Mahadevan. The lyrics are written by Mahesh Sutar and the music is composed by Nishadh Chandra. The Universal Music Group was the music partner of the team.
Sponsors The team was partnered by Gold's Gym for fitness and Café Coffee Day for on-ground hospitality. Radio City was their official radio partner.
Administration Owner - Manoj Choudhary (Sai Grace Sports & Events Pvt. Ltd.) CEO - Jagdeep Nanjappa Manager - Mervyn Fernandis Trainer - Simon Pachal Video analyst - K. R. Singh Physio - Meetu Mangalvedkar Coach - Gundeep Singh Assistant coach - Rahul Singh
Team composition
PlayerNationalityMatchesGoalsGoalkeepersGurpreet Singh Guri16 -Sunny Samuel11 -StrikersAlden D’Souza7Amol Baban BhosaleBikash Toppo165Birendra Lakra Sr.161Damandeep Singh163Gurvinder Singh ChandiKangujam Chinglensana SinghMario Almada166Nikkin Thimmaiah C. A.144Poonacha M. G.Roshan Minz163MidfieldersAlvin AlexanderAmardeep Ekka3Amit Gowda16Lungile Tsolekile161Rajwinder Singh7Tyron Pereira162Varinderjit Singh7Vikas Pillay122Vikram Ramkaval Yadav111DefendersDiwakar RamGurpreet Singh 1612Ken Pereira (captain)16Kuldip Singh7Simrandeep Singh Randhawa157Sunil Yadav9Vinod Gopi Nair9
Fixtures and results 2012 Goals for47 (2.94 per match)Goals against51 (3.19 per match)Most goals Gurpreet Singh (12 goals) Overall position: 4th No.DateScoreOpponentVenueReport11 March7 - 5Mumbai MarinesMumbaiMatch 323 March3 - 1Delhi WizardsDelhiMatch 834 March3 - 3Sher-e-PunjabJalandharMatch 947 March1 - 1Bhopal BadshahsPuneMatch 1659 March3 - 3Chennai CheetahsChennaiMatch 19611 March1 - 3Chandigarh CometsPuneMatch 23712 March3 - 2Karnataka LionsPuneMatch 25815 March1 - 3Chennai CheetahsPuneMatch 29919 March3 - 4Chandigarh CometsChandigarhMatch 351021 March2 - 3Karnataka LionsBangaloreMatch 401123 March4 - 2Mumbai MarinesPuneMatch 411226 March2 - 6Delhi WizardsPuneMatch 481327 March3 - 2Sher-e-PunjabPuneMatch 491429 March5 - 4Bhopal BadshahsBhopalMatch 54151 April3 - 2 (PS) 4 - 4 (FT)Chandigarh CometsMumbaiSemi-final 2162 April2 - 5Sher-e-PunjabMumbaiFinal Position in league phase: 4thRunners-up
Statistics +Performance summarySeasonMatchesWonDrawnLostWin%2012 16 7 3 6 43.75%Home 7 3 1 3 42.86%Away 9 4 2 3 44.44%Overall 16 7 3 6 43.75%
+Performance detailsGoals for47 (2.94 per match)Goals against51 (3.19 per match)Most goals Gurpreet Singh (12) Position: 4th
+Performance by oppositionsOppositionMatchesWonDrawnLostForAgainstWin%Bhopal Badshahs 2 1 1 0 6 5 50.00%Chandigarh Comets 3 1 0 2 8 11 33.33%Chennai Cheetahs 2 0 1 1 4 6 0.00%Delhi Wizards 2 1 0 1 5 7 50.00%Karnataka Lions 2 1 0 1 5 5 50.00%Mumbai Marines 2 2 0 0 11 7 100.00%Sher-e-Punjab 3 1 1 1 8 10 33.33%
Hat-tricks No.PlayerOpposition Result Season Venue Report1 Gurpreet Singh4Mumbai Marines 7 – 5 2012 Mumbai – Mahindra Hockey Stadium 1 March 20122 Simrandeep Singh RandhawaBhopal Badshahs 5 – 4 2012 Bhopal – Aishbagh Stadium 29 March 2012 4 Player scored 4 goals
References