Qatar National Hockey league from today

By Sports Reporter/Doha

The sixth edition of the Qatar National Hockey League will commence from today at the Al Rayyan Stadium from today.

The league is having a delayed start this year and will consist of sven teams and will have one round of round robin matches followed by classification matches. The final is scheduled for May 24th. A few clubs are expected to bring in outstation players from Pakistan and India.

Holders Gateway Qatar have a lot of experienced players in Muhamed Waseem, Dimettry, Rajeev Achari, Shaju Sreedharan, Kareem , Asif  and goalkeeper Shafeel. They have strengthened their squad further this year by roping in former Oman league player Akif and Bhavans school coach and Kerala state player Frejo. Gateway are also currently in discussion with some big names in Pakistan.

The team that is expected to give Gateway and run for their money this year is Shabab Qatar. The young team is coached by Egyptian Maggid Abu Talib. Sheraz Ali and Samiullah are the two talented players with tremendous striking prowess.

Doha Hockey Club will be fielding two teams this season. Though the team does not look as formidable as in previous years but the fitness levels and speed of their players make them the dark horses of the tournament. Domenic and Adrian are two of their star players who could make a difference in this tournament.

Former Champions Wanderers have won the residents League this year but will be without star player Rohit Charles. However, they still are a formidable outfit with Juned patrolling the mid-field and Savio Nayak in the forward line. Wanderers too are talking to some stars in india.

Messaid Hockey Club will look forward to their WAPDA stars from Pakistan to lead the way and are among the favorites to reach the finals. United Hockey Club will rely on stalwarts Conway Sinclair and Sneddon Periera to put up a good show this season. The weekend matches start with Shabab taking on MHC and DHC -1 taking on DHC-2  while Wanderers playing UHQ in the third match of the day.