Karnataka Lions (abbreviated as KL) was a professional field hockey team based in Bangalore, Karnataka that played in the World Series Hockey. The team was led by Indian hockey player Arjun Halappa and coached by former Indian captain Jude Felix. The team was owned by Sporting Ace Pvt. Ltd. (Zentrum Group). Bangalore Hockey Stadium was the home ground of Karnataka Lions.
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 3–1 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 qualified for the semi-finals. They played Chandigarh Comets in their last league match, where they had a big 6–1 defeat.[5]
Karnataka Lions faced Sher-e-Punjab at their home ground in the semi-final. Karnataka was defeated convincingly despite getting an earlier lead and hence brought their campaign in 2012's season of World Series Hockey to an end.[6] They lost 4–1 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, 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) owned the Karnataka Lions.[11]
Sponsors
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 equipment partner, Kyazoonga.com as ticketing partners and Radio City as radio partners. Fluid Media, Highlight Advertising, and RVR16 managed the creative duties for the team. Sporting Ace haf in-house managed all the media marketing campaign.[12]
