New Delhi: UP Rudras bagged India’s marquee midfielder Hardik Singh, his fellow Olympic medallist, forward Lalit Upadhyay, and four other players on Sunday, the opening day of the men’s player auction for the upcoming Hockey India League season.

Promoted by Yadu Sports, UP Rudras franchise secured Olympics gold medalist defender Lars Balk (Netherlands) as well as Kane Russell (New Zealand) and Spanish forward Alvaro Iglesias on an action-packed afternoon that witnessed some intense bidding for premier players. All eight franchises have a purse of INR 4 crore each to fit in a 24-member squad with 16 Indian players, including a mandatory four juniors (age 21 and below), and eight overseas players.

With ace Dutch coach Paul van Ass, co-coach Thomas Tichelman and technical director Cedric D’Souza at the table, the UP Rudras are in the process of putting together a heady mix of players with experience, enthusiasm and potential.

A key member of the bronze-medal-winning team at both the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics, Hardik (base price INR 10 lakh) was snapped up for INR 70 lakh in the opening session after Upadhyay, also a two-time Olympic medallist with a similar base price, was bought at INR 28 lakh.

Balk, who won gold with the National team at the Paris Olympics, was clinched for INR 40 lakh while the experienced Russell was sealed at INR 30 lakh. Meanwhile, Iglesias was bought for INR 12.5 lakh and Indian defender Surender Kumar for INR 14 lakh.

Reflecting on the productive first day at the auctions, the chief coach, Paul Van Ass highlighted the thought process behind going for the players. “We had a good strategy in place and stuck to it. We wanted Hardik and Lalit and were lucky to have got them both because an auction can be unpredictable,” coach Van Ass said at the conference.

The auction, with 400 domestic and over 150 overseas men players registered, will resume at 10 a.m. on Monday, the concluding day.