Money, Germany and a bit of drama in the end topped the day's events at the Hockey India League (HIL) Players' Auction 2015 here on Thursday as Moritz Fuerste led a German dominance topping the list of moolah-makers by breaking the 100,000 barrier with a record bid of $105,000. Meanwhile, Akashdeep Singh became the flagbearer for India with a huge sum of $84,000.
Fuerste, who led the now-defunct Ranchi Rhinos to HIL title in the inaugural season in 2013, joined German team-mates Florian Fuchs and Tobias Hauke as three of the biggest buys of the days.
The Lancers were the late entrant into the bidding battle for Fuerste who had a base price of $30,000 as the bids, with an addition to $1000 each with every new bid, crossed the $100,000 mark.
Initially, though, it was a tug of war between Delhi Waveriders and Uttar Pradesh Wizards who kept raising the bar for the German midfielder, but once they had crossed their limits, the Lancers entered the battle to seal it at a record price.
Meanwhile, the two other top Germans Fuchs and Hauke were bought by Dabang Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh Wizards, respectively, for $96,000 each.
But the day began on a somber note for India captain Sardar Singh who was in the second lot to be auctioned. Starting with a base price of $20,000, the national team skipper could garner only $58,000 from Punjab Warriors.
Sardar invited a bidding battle between Kalinga Lancers, UP and Punjab, which pushed his selling price past USD 50K. However, it was considerable lower than the $78000 India captain bagged in the inaugural auction in 2012 when he was bought by the Delhi. The Delhi franchise, however, chose to not retain Sardar after his three-year contractual period ended after the 2015 season.
The new contract will be for a two-year period.
India forward Akashdeep, on the other hand, left most of the big guns behind to win a purse of $84,000. UP, who played the auction like a spendthrift, beat Dabang Mumbai and Ranchi Rays in a three-way battle to bring Akashdeep in their camp. The franchise was even warned by Hockey India President, Narinder Batra, for their money-splurging tactics that put them in danger of falling short of the 20 they needed to complete the squad.
However, they managed to do that in the end with just $100 left in the salary cap.
Akashdeep, who has been a regular member of the Indian team over the last five years, seemed to top UP's wish-list as they went all out for the man from Jalandhar. Punjab. But Ranchi and Mumbai didn't relent in the bidding war and only opted out once it crossed the $80,000 mark.
Also earning big among the Indians were veteran drag-flicker Sandeep Singh, defender Gurmail Singh and forward Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Mandeep Singh.
Sandeep was bought by Ranchi Rays for $81,000, Gurmail by Dabang Mumbai for $81,000, Chandi by Punjab Warriors for $75,000, Mandeep by Ranchi Rays for $70,000, Rupinderpal Singh by Delhi for $68,000, Nikkin Thimmaih by Mumbai for $67000, Jasjit Singh Kular by Punjab for $65,000, Chinglensana Singh by UP for $62,000, Dharamvir Singh by Kalinga Lancers for $60,000 and Danish Mujtaba by Mumbai for $54000.
Rupinder was earlier not retained by Delhi who chose to re-buy him in a fresh bidding battle with Mumbai. Also emerging as a surprise was the price bagged by Sandeep who has been out of the Indian team since the 2012 Olympics; however, his performance for Punjab in the last edition of the HIL, where they made it to the finals, must have worked in his favour as a drag-flick specialist.
All 10 top Indian buys took home in excess of $50,000, however, it didn't feature captain Sardar despite a price tag of $58,000.
Among the foreigners, other than the Germans, five Australians, a South African and a surprise Austrian made it to the top-10 list of expats.
Mathew Swann ($75,000, Dabang Mumbai), Mathew Gohdes ($71,000, Punjab Warriors), Simon Orchard ($58,000, Punjab Warriors), Jamie Dwyer ($57,000, UP Wizards) and Kieran Govers ($36,000, Dabang Mumbai) led the Australian among the top foreign earners.
Also at No. 6 in the list was South Africa's Austin Smith with a price of $59,000 paid by Delhi Waveriders and Austria's Benjamin Stanzl who took home $35,000, also from the Delhi franchise.
The day ended after a bit of a confusion where the franchises were not clear about the process of the draft to complete the remaining numbers in their squad. However, after clarification from Batra things settled down nicely to round off a successful auction.
Top 10 Indian Buys
1. Akashdeep Singh - $84,000 - UP Wizards
2. Sandeep Singh - $81,000 - Ranchi Rays
3. Gurmail Singh - $81,000 - Dabang Mumbai
4. Gurwinder Singh Chandi - $75,000 - Punjab Warriors
5. Mandeep Singh - $70,000 - Delhi Waveriders
6. Rupinderpal Singh - $68,000 - Delhi Waveriders
7. Nikkin Thimmaih - $67,000 - Dabang Mumbai
8. Jasjit Singh Kular - $65,000 - Punjab Warriors
9. Chinglensana Singh - $62,000 - UP Wizards
10. Dharamvir Singh - $60,000 - Kalinga Lancers
Top 10 Foreign Buys
1. Mortiz Fuerste (GER) - $105,0000 - Kalinga Lancers
2. Florian Fuchs (GER) - $96,000 - Dabang Mumbai
3. Tobias Hauke (GER) - $96,000 - UP Wizards
4. Mathew Swann (AUS) - $75,000 - Dabang Mumbai
5. Mathew Gohdes (AUS) - $71,000 - Punjab Warriors
6. Austin Smith (SA) - $59,000 - Delhi Waveriders
7. Simon Orchard (AUS) - $58,000 - Punjab Warriors
8. Jamie Dwyer (AUS) - $57,000 - UP Wizards
9. Kieran Govers (AUS) - $36,000 - Dabang Mumbai
10. Benjamin Stanzl (AUT) - $35,000 - Delhi Waveriders
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