Numerous talented players are all set to showcase their talent in the first season of the Prime Volleyball League at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.
The seven franchises participating in season 1 are Ahmedabad Defenders, Bengaluru Torpedoes, Calicut Heroes, Chennai Blitz, Hyderabad Black Hawks, Kochi Blue Spikers, and Kolkata Thunderbolts who will battle it out for the prestigious Prime Volleyball trophy from February 5 - February 27. The league will be held in a robust bio-bubble and all the safety measures for COVID-19 has been put in place.
The tournament will consist of 24 matches with Hyderabad Black Hawks taking on the Kochi Blue Spikers in the opening match. All teams will play each of the other teams once. The top four teams qualify for the Semi-Finals. The knockouts will be played on February 24 and February 25 and the final will be played on February 27 at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium.
The Prime Volleyball League promises to provide mouth-watering contests as all franchises packed their sides with a fantastic balance of experienced and young talents, along with international stars at the star-studded PVL Auction in Kochi on December 14, 2021.
The Kolkata Thunderbolts will receive the services of experienced players - Ashwal Rai (Captain & Middle Blocker) and Vinit Kumar (Universal) who will have tremendous backing from International players in Matthew August (Blocker) and Ian Satterfield (Universal) from the USA. The rest of the squad includes Anu James, Tharun Gowda K, Mohamed Riyazudeen, Rahul K, Hari Prasad BS, Muhammed Shafeeq, Aravindhan S and Janshad U.
The Ahmedabad Defenders will receive the services of an excellent Setter in Muthusamy and he will be backed by Middle Blocker Manoj LM. American Ryan Meehan (Blocker) and Rodrigo Villalboa from Argentina (Attacker) will provide excellent inputs with their international experience. The rest of the squad includes Hardeep Singh, Shon T John, S Santhosh, Prabakaran P, Saju Prakash Meyal, Prasanna Raja AA, Chaudhari Harsh, and Angamuthu.
The Bengaluru Torpedoes will witness the experienced Ranjit Singh (Captain & Setter) and Pankaj Sharma (Attacker) taking the field for the team and they will receive thorough support from American players - Noah Taitano (Universal) and Kyle Friend (Attacker). The rest of the make-up of the team includes Rohith P, Varun GS, B Midhun Kumar, Sarang Santhilal, Lavmeet Katariya, Srajan U Shetty, Ranjit Singh, Vinayak Rokhade, and Ganesha K.
The Hyderabad Black Hawks will see experienced Attacker Amit Gulia taking center stage for the franchise and he will be ably supported by Setters Hariharan V and Vipul Kumar. The Hyderabad team has also been bolstered by International personnel in Luis Antonio Arias Guzman from Venezuela (Universal) and Henry Bell from Cuba (Attacker). The rest of the squad includes Rohit Kumar, George Antony, Anand K, Sudheer Shetty, John Joseph EJ, Jishnu PV, Praful S, and SV Guru Prasanth.
The star duo of Jerome Vinith (Universal) and Ajithlal C (Attacker) will lead the charge for the Calicut Heroes and have tremendous backing from International players from the USA in Olympic gold medallist, David Lee (Blocker) & Aaron Koubi (Attacker). The rest of the squad includes Abil Krishnan MP, Vshal Krishna PS, Vignesh Raj D, R Ramanathan, Arjun Nath LS, Mujeeb MC, Jithin N, Lal Sujan MV, Arun Zacharias Siby, and Ansab O.
The Chennai Blitz will receive the services of experienced players - Ukkrapandian Mohan (Captain & Setter), Akhin GS (Middle Blocker), and Naveen Raja Jacob (Attacker). They have also bolstered their side with International players in Fernando David Gonzalez Rodriguez from Venezuela (Attacker) and Bruno Da Silva from the USA (Attacker). The rest of the squad includes Amit, Azmath Ulla, Kanagaraj, GR Vaishnav, Abhilash Chaudhary, Mohit Bheem Sehrawat, Pinamma Prashant, Amitsinh Kaptansinh Tanvar, and Jobin Varghese.
The Captain in the Indian national team's last tournament, Karthik Madhu (Middle Blocker) will lead the charge for Kochi Blue Spikers. He will be ably supported by the experienced Middle Blocker Deepesh Kumar Sinha. They have also bolstered their side with International players - Colton Cowell (Attacker) and Cody Caldwell (Attacker) from the USA. The rest of the squad includes Raison Benet Rebello, Sethu TR, Erin Varghese, Darshan S Gowda, C Venu, Abhinav BS, Dushyanth GN, Prashant Kumar Saroha, Asham A, and Abdul Raheem.
( With inputs from ANI )
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