PHL - A forward step indeed??

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to watch the last hockey match of Premier Hockey League at Gachibowli Stadium,Hyderabad between Sher-e-Jalandhar and Hyderbad Sultans. The turn of events was such that the last tie was the unofficial final match with the top two teams fighting it out for the coveted trophy.Interesting, I thought..
Arriving a little late(was playing lawn tennis at my office that evening with no watchable movies being released this Friday),I found the crowd to be in a frenzy...supporters from both teams trying to outdo each other..with the Shers being more vocal..what with their dhols and war-cries..Slogans rent the air..overall a festive atmosphere.
It was a gr8 sight..ppl turning out to watch Hockey( our national sport)..stars from Pakistan (drag-flick expert Sohail Abbas and HS goalie Akmal) on astroturf with new rules like timeouts, cheerleaders (guys, including me were found lurking close to the girls cheering their teams the entire duration of the contest) etc...
The half-time score HS -1 SeJ-0..Eventually, the better team won..The final score in favor of HS read 2-1, but the game was not without its share of highs and lows..HS had a terrific defence with Sohail,Lazarus Barla managed to thwart the attacking play by SeJ forwards( Most of them played for India)..When the final whistle blew, some SeJ players marched angrily towards the referee..Tempers ran high in the dying minutes..The match ended in a turmoil with the organisers stepping in to avoid a disgrace..The awards ceremony was completed in a jiffy..
ESPN Star-Sports' coverage of the first of a kind event was ok..It seems they wanted to show that they were concerned about the development of other sports in India ,besides cricket of course..The new format might hopefully infuse some life into hockey..

But the perennial question stiill lurks..Will PHL survive another year??