{"id":258799,"date":"2026-01-26T19:11:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/258799\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T19:11:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T19:11:11","slug":"kalinga-lancers-win-mens-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/258799\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalinga Lancers win men\u2019s title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kalinga Lancers capped a memorable campaign by edging Ranchi Royals 3-2 in a gripping final to lift the Men\u2019s Hockey India League 2026<\/a> title in front of their home crowd in Bhubaneswar on Monday.<\/p>\n

Belgian drag-flick specialist Alexander Hendrickx (4\u2019, 27′) led the charge while Dilpreet Singh (25\u2019) helped the Lancers earn a decisive first-half cushion.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ranchi Royals stayed in the contest through Araijeet Singh Hundal (9\u2019) and a late penalty-corner conversion by captain Tom Boon (59\u2019) but the comeback fell short.<\/p>\n

The Hockey India League<\/a> final began at a frenetic pace, with both sides pressing aggressively and creating early circle entries. Kalinga Lancers struck first when Hendrickx powered home a drag-flick from a penalty corner in the fourth minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However, the lead was short-lived as Ranchi Royals responded with a moment of quality. Yashdeep Siwach switched play from the left, finding Hundal, who controlled superbly before firing past the goalkeeper to level the scores.<\/p>\n

Sustained pressure from the Lancers in the second quarter pinned the Ranchi Royals deep, yielding a series of penalty corners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the 25th minute, Dilpreet reacted quickest after Suraj Karkera saved Hendrickx\u2019s initial flick, turning in the rebound to restore the lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Two minutes later, Hendrickx made it 3-1 with another drag-flick, this time arrowed into the top corner to send the home side into half-time with momentum on their side.<\/p>\n

Ranchi Royals controlled more possession after the break and probed patiently for a way back. They earned a penalty corner in the 36th minute but Boon\u2019s attempt was blocked by the first rusher.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chances continued to come for Ranchi Royals, including a close-range opportunity for Hundal late in the third quarter, only for Lancers goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak to stand firm with a sharp save.<\/p>\n

The final quarter was played almost entirely in the Lancers\u2019 half as Ranchi Royals committed numbers forward. Pathak produced a series of outstanding saves, denying Sam Lane, Boon and Nilam Sanjeep Xess, including a reflex stop with his stick in the 54th minute.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Boon finally breached the defence with a low drag-flick from a penalty corner in the 59th minute, but time ran out before an equaliser could be found.<\/p>\n

This was the second title for the Kalinga Lancers, having also won the 2017 edition of India\u2019s top hockey<\/a> league. Earlier in the day, Hyderabad Toofans beat HIL GC 4-3 to finish third.<\/p>\n

Tamil Nadu Dragons goalkeeper Prince Deep Singh won the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament and Talem Priyobarta of HIL GC earned the Upcoming Player of the Tournament award.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ranchi Royals\u2019 Captain Tom Boon won the Top Scorer of the Tournament with 19 goals to his name, while Hyderabad Toofans’ Amandeep Lakra was crowned the Player of the Tournament.<\/p>\n

Hockey India League 2025-26 awards<\/p>\n

Fairplay Award: HIL GC<\/p>\n

Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament: Prince Deep Singh<\/p>\n

Upcoming Player of the Tournament: Talem Priyobarta<\/p>\n

Top Scorer of the Tournament: Tom Boon<\/p>\n

Player of the Tournament: Amandeep Lakra<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kalinga Lancers capped a memorable campaign by edging Ranchi Royals 3-2 in a gripping final to lift the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258800,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-258799","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}