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Premier Hockey League in IndiaThe Premier Hockey League (PHL) is a three year old domestic field hockey tournament in India, conducted by Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) with active support from sports news channel ESPN India. The tournament was initiated to revive interest in the sport which was losing spectator interest to cricket in recent times. Hockey is India's National Sport, with the country having won a record eight Olympic Gold medals and having lifted the World Cup once.One of the main reasons for the waning popularity of the existing domestic competition was the rise of corporate teams such as Indian Airlines and Punjab & Sind Bank which do not have a steady fan following. PHL is trying to change that by bringing in regional flavor. It fields teams from traditional hockey bastions such as Bombay, Punjab, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu, as well as from other places like Hyderabad and Bangalore, where it has got some fan following. PHL 2007, played in two phases in Chennai and Chandigarh saw participation of seven teams -- Orissa Steelers, Sher-e-Jalandhar, Bangalore Lions, Hyderabad Sultans, Maratha Warriors, Chandigarh Dynamos and Chennai Veerans. Orissa Steelers won the title in 2007. Sher-e-Jalandhar was the runners up. In the 2006 tournament, which comprised of two tiers, Bangalore Lions had won the premier division title and Orissa Steelers the first division title. In the inaugural edition of 2005, Hyderabad Sultans had won the title. The prize money for the winners in 2007 edition was Rs 4 million.
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