Karnataka Lions

Karnataka Lions (abbreviated as KL) is a hockey team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, India that plays in the World Series Hockey. The team is led by Indian hockey player Arjun Halappa and coached by former Indian captain Jude Felix. The team is owned by Sporting Ace Pvt. Ltd. (Zentrum Group). Bangalore Hockey Stadium in Bangalore is the home ground of Karnataka Lions.

Karnataka Lions
Full nameKarnataka Lions
Nickname(s)Lions
Founded2011
Home groundBangalore Hockey Stadium, Bangalore
(Capacity 7,000)
OwnerSporting Ace Pvt. Ltd. (Zentrum Group)
Coach Jude Felix
WebsiteOfficial Website
Official Facebook Page
Official Twitter Account
Official YouTube Channel
Home
Away

Karnataka Lions ended-up as the semi-finalists in the inaugural edition of WSH after being knocked out by Sher-e-Punjab in the semi-final.[1] They finished third in the group stage. Team's penalty corner specialist Len Aiyappa was the top scorer for the team and third overall in the season with 13 goals in 12 matches.[2]

History

2012 season

Karnataka Lions had a bad start to the tournament with three consecutive defeats against Delhi Wizards, Sher-e-Punjab and Bhopal Badshahs.[3] Karnataka opened their account against Chandigarh Comets with a 31 victory at home.[4] Their next five matches fetched them just two victories and three defeats and were seemed to be out of the tournament as they lied at the bottom of the table. They won four in a row in a must win situation and as a result qualified for the semi-finals with still one of their match remaining. They played Chandigarh Comets in their last league match where they had a big 61 defeat.[5]

Karnataka Lions faced Sher-e-Punjab at their home ground, Bangalore Hockey Stadium, in the semi-final. Karnataka was defeated convincingly despite of getting an earlier lead and hence brought their campaign in 2012's season of World Series Hockey to an end.[6] They lost 41 from Punjab who went on to the final to become champions.[7] Majority of the team's goals came through their penalty corner specialist Len Aiyappa who scored 13 goals in 12 matches including two hat-tricks against Chandigarh Comets and Bhopal Badshahs.[8][9][10]

Franchisee Details

Ownership

Logo of Sporting Ace Pvt. Ltd.

Sporting Ace (a part of the Zentrum Group) owns the Karnataka Lions franchisee. Sporting Ace Private Limited is a part of the rapidly growing Zentrum Group and has acclaimed Bollywood action hero Suniel Shetty as the Chief Mentor. Zentrum Group is a global player in the field of Energy, Chemicals, Education, Sports, Information Technology, Consulting, Media, & Outsourcing and work extensively with the world’s leading corporate houses, governments, and institutions.[11]

Sponsors and Partners

The Karnataka Lions have managed to rope in XAGE Mobile as their Title & Platinum Sponsor, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises Ltd. (NICE) as the Gold Sponsor, Slazenger as their Kit & Equipment partner. Kyazoonga.com is the official ticketing partners and Radio City the radio partners. RVR16 is the Digital Partner who manages the Social Media Marketing, facebook, Twitter, official website and other Digital marketing forms. Fluid Media manages the creative duties for the team and Highlight advertising has been responsible for all on ground activations. Sporting Ace has in-house managed all the media marketing campaign.[12]

Theme Song

Theme song for Karnataka Lions has been composed by National award winning music director Vidyasagar. Lyrics have been written mainly in Kannada with a few words in English and Hindi by Shabbir Ahmed.[13]

Team Composition

The team is captained by experienced Indian striker Arjun Halappa and coached by Jude Felix.[14]

Player Nationality Matches Goals
Goal Keepers
Devesh Chauhan  India 15 -
Jagdeep Dayal  India 12 -
Strikers
Amar Aiyamma  India 2
Arjun Halappa (Captain)  India 12 3
Dhanraj Pillay  India 6 1
Jarnail Singh  India 15 2
Naveen Kumar  India 12 3
Robert Alcantara  Malaysia 7
S. K. Uthappa  India
Vinayak Bijwad  India 15 3
Mid Fielders
Adnan Maqsood  Pakistan 15
Arjun Antil  India 15
Deepak Kullu  India 6 1
Gursev Singh  India 13
Ignace Tirkey  India
Mohd Rodzhanizam Bin Mat Radzi  Malaysia 8 1
Nagalingaswamy B.  India 4
Nitin Kumar  India 15
Ravipal Singh  India 14 6
Sommanna C.K.  India 15
Defenders
Abhishek Singh  India 12
Deepak Singh  India 4
Inocent Kullu  India 12 1
Len Aiyappa  India 12 13
Sandeep Singh  India
Sandeep Singh (U-18)  India 15 1
Zeeshan Ashraf  Pakistan 14

Fixtures and Results

2012

Goals For 35 (2.33 per match)
Goals Against 44 (2.93 per match)
Most Goals Len Aiyappa (13 goals)
Overall Position: 3rd
No. Date Score Opponent Venue Report
12 March2 - 3Delhi WizardsDelhi Match 4
23 March1 - 6Sher-e-PunjabJalandhar Match 6
35 March1 - 3Bhopal BadshahsBangalore Match 11
46 March3 - 2Chandigarh CometsBangalore Match 14
58 March1 - 2Mumbai MarinesBangalore Match 16
610 March5 - 3Chennai CheetahsChennai Match 21
712 March2 - 3Pune StrykersPune Match 25
816 March4 - 2Mumbai MarinesMumbai Match 32
917 March1 - 4Chennai CheetahsBangalore Match 34
1021 March3 - 2Pune StrykersBangalore Match 40
1123 March2 - 1Sher-e-PunjabBangalore Match 42
1224 March3 - 1Delhi WizardsBangalore Match 44
1327 March5 - 2Bhopal BadshahsBhopal Match 50
1429 March1 - 6Chandigarh CometsChandigarh Match 53
151 April1 - 4Sher-e-PunjabBangalore Semi-final 1
Position in League Phase: 3rd
Semi-finalists

Statistics

Performance summary
Season Matches Won Drawn Lost Win%
2012 1570846.67%
Home 840450.00%
Away 730442.86%
Overall 1570846.67%
Performance Details
Goals For 35 (2.33 per match)
Goals Against 44 (2.93 per match)
Most Goals Len Aiyappa (13 goals)
Current Position: 3rd
Performance by Oppositions
Opposition Matches Won Drawn Lost For Against Win%
Bhopal Badshahs 21016550.00%
Chandigarh Comets 21014850.00%
Chennai Cheetahs 21016750.00%
Delhi Wizards 21015450.00%
Mumbai Marines 21015450.00%
Pune Strykers 21015550.00%
Sher-e-Punjab 310241133.33%

See also

References

  1. "Sher-e-Punjab enter final of WSH". Indian Express. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  2. "Top Scorers". World Series Hockey. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  3. "WSH: Karnataka Lions slump to third straight loss". Oneindia.in. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  4. "First win for Karnataka Lions". The Hindu. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  5. "WSH: Confident Chandigarh crush Karnataka Lions 6-1". First Post. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  6. "Sher-e-Punjab enter final of WSH". Indian Express. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  7. "Sher-E-Punjab crowned WSH champions". ESPN. 3 April 2012. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  8. "Top Scorers". World Series Hockey. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  9. "WSH: Karnataka beat Bhopal 5-2". CNN-IBN. 27 March 2012. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  10. "Karnataka Lions beat Chandigarh Comets 3-2 in WSH". The Times of India. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  11. "Suniel Shetty to lead WSH Bangalore Franchise "Karnataka Lions"". The Fans of Hockey. 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  12. "Sponsors". Karnataka Lions. 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  13. "Song for the Lions". Deccan Chronicle. 22 February 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
  14. "Sher-e-Punjab". World Series Hockey. Retrieved 28 February 2012.
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