 "Several Indian players from the the team that won bronze at Paris Olympics will feature in Hockey India League. Reuters")
The complete schedule and format for the 2024-25 Hockey India League (HIL) was announced on Tuesday (5 November), a month before the season commences. The Hockey India League is returning after a seven-year hiatus and this time, it promises to be a much grander affair with a women’s competition also being introduced.
Eight teams will participate in the men’s competition whereas four teams will feature in the women’s tournament. Rourkela’s Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium and Ranchi’s Marang Gomke Jaipal Singh Munda Astro Turf Stadium have been named as venues to host the competitions. The season will begin with the men’s competition beginning on 28 December. The first match will be between Delhi SG Pipers and Team Gonasika in Rourkela.
The men’s season will run from 28 December 2024 to 1 February 2025, whereas the women’s season will be held between 12 January 2025 and 26 January.
The HIL Player Auction was held in Delhi in October. While India captain Harmanpreet Singh was the costliest buy among men (Soorma Hockey Club for Rs 78 lakh), Udita was acquired by Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers for Rs 32 lakh to become the most expensive player among women. The official website of the Hockey India league, hockeyindialeague.com, was also launched on Tuesday. The detail regarding ticket sales for all HIL 2024-25 matches are expected to be announced on the website soon.
Before we get onto the schedule, let’s take a look at the tournament format:
HIL men’s League Format
Phase 1 of the men’s HIL tournament will see all eight teams lock horns against each other once, in Rourkela from 28 December to 18 January, 2025. Phase 2 will kick off on 19 January and teams will be divided into two pools in this phase. Pool A consists of Delhi SG Pipers, Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers, Soorma Hockey Club and Kalinga Lancers, whereas Pool B has Gonasika, Hyderabad Toofans, Tamil Nadu Dragons and UP Rudras.
Each team will play the other teams in their Pool once, with the top two teams from each pool qualifying for the semi-finals that will take place on 31 January. The final will take place on 1 February.
HIL women’s League format
The women’s competition will begin on 12 January 2025 with matches being played in Ranchi and Rourkela. The four teams competing in the women’s team are Odisha Warriors, Delhi SG Pipers, Soorma Hockey Club and Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers. Each of the four teams will play a double-round robin competition in the league stage, with the top two teams at the end of the league stage facing off in the final in Ranchi on 26 January.
HIL 2024-25 schedule for men (Phase 1)
Note: The timings of all HIL matches are yet to be revealed by the organisers.
28 December 2024, Saturday
Team Gonasika vs Delhi SG Pipers in Rourkela
29 December, Sunday
Hyderabad Toofans vs Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers in Rourkela
Soorma Hockey Club vs Tamil Nadu Dragons in Rourkela
30 December, Monday
UP Rudras vs Kalinga Lancers in Rourkela
31 December, Tuesday
Delhi SG Pipers vs Hyderabad Toofans in Rourkela
1 January 2025, Wednesday
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers vs Team Gonasika in Rourkela
2 January, Thursday
Soorma Hockey Club vs UP Rudras in Rourkela
3 January, Friday
Tamil Nadu Dragons vs Kalinga Lancers in Rourkela
4 January, Saturday
Delhi SG Pipers vs Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers in Rourkela
Hyderabad Toofans vs Team Gonasika in Rourkela
5 January, Sunday
Kalinga Lancers vs Soorma Hockey Club in Rourkela
Tamil Nadu Dragons vs UP Rudras in Rourkela
6 January, Monday
Soorma Hockey Club vs Delhi SG Pipers in Rourkela
7 January, Tuesday
Kalinga Lancers vs Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers in Rourkela
8 January, Wednesday
Team Gonasika vs Tamil Nadu Dragons in Rourkela
UP Rudras vs Hyderabad Toofans in Rourkela
9 January, Thursday
Kalinga Lancers vs Team Gonasika in Rourkela
10 January, Friday
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers vs Tamil Nadu Dragons in Rourkela
11 January, Saturday
Delhi SG Pipers vs UP Rudras in Rourkela
Hyderabad Toofans vs Soorma Hockey Club in Rourkela
12 January, Sunday
Kalinga Lancers vs Hyderabad Toofans in Rourkela
13 January, Monday
Tamil Nadu Dragons vs Delhi SG Pipers in Rourkela
14 January, Tuesday
Team Gonasika vs Soorma Hockey Club in Rourkela
15 January, Wednesday
UP Rudras vs Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers in Rourkela
16 January, Thursday
Delhi SG Pipers vs Kalinga Lancers in Rourkela
17 January, Friday
Soorma Hockey Club vs Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers in Rourkela
18 January, Saturday
Hyderabad Toofans vs Tamil Nadu Dragons in Ranchi
Team Gonasika vs UP Rudras in Ranchi
Phase 2 (Men)
19 January, Sunday
Kalinga Lancers vs Delhi SG Pipers in Rourkela
20 January, Monday
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers vs Soorma Hockey Club in Rourkela
21 January, Tuesday
UP Rudras vs Team Gonasika in Rourkela
22 January, Wednesday
Delhi SG Pipers vs Soorma Hockey Club in Ranchi
23 January, Thursday
Tamil Nadu Dragons vs Hyderabad Toofans in Rourkela
24 January, Friday
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers vs Kalinga Lancers in Ranchi
25 January, Saturday
Tamil Nadu Dragons vs Team Gonasika in Rourkela
Hyderabad Toofans vs UP Rudras in Rourkela
27 January Monday
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers vs Delhi SG Pipers in Rourkela
Soorma Hockey Club vs Vedanta Kalinga Lancers in Rourkela
28 January, Tuesday
Team Gonasika vs Hyderabad Toofans in Rourkela
29 January, Wednesday
UP Rudras vs Tamil Nadu Dragons in Rourkela
31 January, Friday
Semi-final 1 in Rourkela (1st overall ranked team vs 4th overall ranked team)
Semi-final 2 in Rourkela (2nd overall ranked team vs 3rd overall ranked team)
1 February
The Final in Rourkela
HIL 2024-25 women’s schedule
12 January 2025, Sunday
Delhi SG Pipers vs Odisha Warriors in Ranchi
13 January, Monday
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers vs Soorma Hockey Club in Ranchi
14 January, Tuesday
Delhi SG Pipers vs Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers in Ranchi
15 January, Wednesday
Odisha Warriors vs Soorma Hockey Club in Ranchi
16 January, Thursday
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers vs Odisha Warriors in Ranchi
17 January, Friday
Delhi SG Pipers vs Soorma Hockey Club in Rourkela
19 January, Sunday
Odisha Warriors vs Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers in Rourkela
20 January, Monday
Soorma Hockey Club vs Delhi SG Pipers in Ranchi
21 January, Tuesday
Soorma Hockey Club vs Odisha Warriors in Ranchi
22 January, Wednesday
Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers vs Delhi SG Pipers in Ranchi
23 January, Thursday
Odisha Warriors vs Delhi SG Pipers in Ranchi
24 January, Friday
Soorma Hockey Club vs Shrachi Rarh Bengal Tigers in Ranchi
26 January, Sunday
The Final (1st place vs 2nd place)
Hockey India League live streaming details
The live streaming details of the 2024-25 Hockey India League season have not been announced yet.