# Pune Strykers

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

| Player | Nationality | Matches | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||
| Gurpreet Singh Guri | India | 16 | - |
| Sunny Samuel | India | 11 | - |
| Strikers ||||
| Alden D’Souza | India | 7 | |
| Amol Baban Bhosale | India | | |
| Bikash Toppo | India | 16 | 5 |
| Birendra Lakra Sr. | India | 16 | 1 |
| Damandeep Singh | India | 16 | 3 |
| Gurvinder Singh Chandi | India | | |
| Kangujam Chinglensana Singh | India | | |
| Mario Almada | Argentina | 16 | 6 |
| Nikkin Thimmaiah C. A. | India | 14 | 4 |
| Poonacha M. G. | India | | |
| Roshan Minz | India | 16 | 3 |
| Midfielders ||||
| Alvin Alexander | India | | |
| Amardeep Ekka | India | 3 | |
| Amit Gowda | India | 16 | |
| Lungile Tsolekile | South Africa | 16 | 1 |
| Rajwinder Singh | India | 7 | |
| Tyron Pereira | India | 16 | 2 |
| Varinderjit Singh | India | 7 | |
| Vikas Pillay | India | 12 | 2 |
| Vikram Ramkaval Yadav | India | 11 | 1 |
| Defenders ||||
| Diwakar Ram | India | | |
| Gurpreet Singh | India | 16 | 12 |
| Ken Pereira (captain) | Canada | 16 | |
| Kuldip Singh | India | 7 | |
| Simrandeep Singh Randhawa | India | 15 | 7 |
| Sunil Yadav | India | 9 | |
| Vinod Gopi Nair | India | 9 | |

## Fixtures and results
### 2012

| Goals for | 47 (2.94 per match) |
| Goals against | 51 (3.19 per match) |
| Most goals | Gurpreet Singh (12 goals) Overall position: 4th |
| No. | Date | Score | Opponent | Venue | Report |
| 1 | 1 March | 7 - 5 | Mumbai Marines | Mumbai | Match 3 |
| 2 | 3 March | 3 - 1 | Delhi Wizards | Delhi | Match 8 |
| 3 | 4 March | 3 - 3 | Sher-e-Punjab | Jalandhar | Match 9 |
| 4 | 7 March | 1 - 1 | Bhopal Badshahs | Pune | Match 16 |
| 5 | 9 March | 3 - 3 | Chennai Cheetahs | Chennai | Match 19 |
| 6 | 11 March | 1 - 3 | Chandigarh Comets | Pune | Match 23 |
| 7 | 12 March | 3 - 2 | Karnataka Lions | Pune | Match 25 |
| 8 | 15 March | 1 - 3 | Chennai Cheetahs | Pune | Match 29 |
| 9 | 19 March | 3 - 4 | Chandigarh Comets | Chandigarh | Match 35 |
| 10 | 21 March | 2 - 3 | Karnataka Lions | Bangalore | Match 40 |
| 11 | 23 March | 4 - 2 | Mumbai Marines | Pune | Match 41 |
| 12 | 26 March | 2 - 6 | Delhi Wizards | Pune | Match 48 |
| 13 | 27 March | 3 - 2 | Sher-e-Punjab | Pune | Match 49 |
| 14 | 29 March | 5 - 4 | Bhopal Badshahs | Bhopal | Match 54 |
| 15 | 1 April | 3 - 2 (PS) 4 - 4 (FT) | Chandigarh Comets | Mumbai | Semi-final 2 |
| 16 | 2 April | 2 - 5 | Sher-e-Punjab | Mumbai | Final |
| Position in league phase: 4th Runners-up ||||||

## Statistics

Performance summary :
| Season | Matches | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win% |
| 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% |

### Hat-tricks

| No. | Player | Opposition | Result | Season | Venue | Report |
| 1 | Gurpreet Singh$^4$ | Mumbai Marines | 7 – 5 | 2012 | Mumbai – Mahindra Hockey Stadium | 1 March 2012 |
| 2 | Simrandeep Singh Randhawa | Bhopal Badshahs | 5 – 4 | 2012 | Bhopal – Aishbagh Stadium | 29 March 2012 |
    $^4$ Player scored 4 goals