January 16th, New Delhi: Dabang Mumbai are keen to turn a new leaf and hope to start off with a win in the opening game of the season of the Coal India Hockey India League 2016 under the mentorship of new coach Jay Stacy.
After a forgettable last season, Dabang Mumbai will hope to revive their fortunes in the 4th season of HIL to make up for the disappointments of 2015, when they finished at the bottom of the six-team table.
The six team annual franchise based Coal India Hockey India League, the flagship event of Hockey India - the apex body governing the sport in the country and sanctioned by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) will see the Mumbai based franchise begin their 2016 campaign against Kalinga Lancers at Bhubaneswar on 21 January 2016.
The Dabang Mumbai squad is a perfect mix of the most talented national and international players belonging to Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, England and The Netherlands.
The team has appointed Australian and former Olympian Jay Jason Stacy as the new Chief Coach. The squad will see Krishan Pathak, David Harte and Xavi Trenchs guard the goal posts while Harmanpreet Singh, Gurmail Singh, Jeremy Hayward and Andrew Philpott will form the defensive wall for the team.
Nilakanta Sharma, Danish Mujtaba, Vikas Sharma, Tyron Pereira and Manpreet will form the midfield, while the forward line will see Roshan Minz, Affan Yousuf, Chandanda Thimmaiah, Gurjant Singh, Florian Fuchs, John Bjorkman. Some of the positions will be covered interchangeable by Matthew Swann (Defender/Midfielder) and Dylan Wotherspon (Midfielder/Forward).
The team is promoted by Ms. Radha Kapoor, Director, DoIT Sports Management (India) Pvt. Ltd, and have appointed former India skipper Viren Rasquinha as the Strategic Advisor and Chief Mentor for the team.
