18 players sign up for World Series Hockey

Mumbai: Olympics and World Cup-winning Australia team captain Brent Livermore and 17 other champion hockeyroos from South Korea, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand are all set to join the World Series Hockey.

Apart from Livermore, other stars from Australia - Joseph Reardon, Peter Kelly, Robert Green, Mathew Phillips - will also head to India in December for the five-week competition.

Casey Henwood and Lloyd Stephenson from New Zealand, Jiwa Mohan from Malaysia, and Sung Min for South Korea have also signed up for the WSH, scheduled to be held from December 17, 2011 to January 22, 2012 that will involve 200 leading players.

Livermore, who has been appointed as one of the captains of the eight teams that will contest in the opening season of the tournament, said that he was looking forward to playing "explosive" hockey.

"It's fantastic to see players from all over the world signing up for this global league. I am proud to be appointed a captain and look forward to playing explosive hockey," said the Australian legend.

Jiwa Mohan, a Malaysian international with South Indian roots, said that WSH was going to be a good platform for emerging players.

"I'm eagerly looking forward to playing in front of the passionate, hockey-loving crowd in India. World Series Hockey is going to be a fantastic platform for the emerging players, with a sharp learning curve available to those who adapt to playing with a host of international stars on the same team," said Mohan.

The WSH will see Indian and international players being allocated to multi-city franchise-based teams as per the internationally accepted and practised 'draft' system, where they will showcase their talent in 61 matches.

The inaugural edition of the league will comprise eight teams out of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Pune, Bhopal, Punjab, Ranchi and Rourkela.

Some of the Indian stars who will be seen in action during the series are Dhanraj Pillay, Rajpal Singh, Sandeep Singh, Adrian D'Souza, Sardara Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Arjun Halappa, Diwakar Ram, Bharat Chetri, Dhananjay Mahadik, Shivendra Singh, Mandeep Antil, SV Sunil, Roshan Minz, William Xalxo, Prabodh Tirkey and Yuvraj Walmiki.

The star-studded line-up ensures the league will be vibrant and competitive, drawing the global spotlight on India.