The inaugural Pro Volleyball League will kick off with the first leg in Kochi on February 2.
Pro Volleyball League (PVL) 2019: The stage is set for the inaugural edition of the RuPay Pro Volleyball League aimed at giving a boost to the sport in the country, beginning with the first leg on Saturday.
Six teams will battle it out for top honours in the tournament, to be played here and in Chennai. The six franchises who will be part of the league are: Ahmedabad Defenders, Calicut Heroes, Chennai Spartans, U Mumba Volley, Black Hawks Hyderabad and Kochi Blue Spikers.
The PVL is an initiative of Volleyball Federation of India and Baseline Ventures.
Kochi Blue Spikers will take on U Mumba Volley in the first match of the league, which would see six teams fighting for the title. A total of 18 matches would be played in two legs to be held in - Kochi and Chennai. The first 12 matches will take place in Kochi while the remaining six matches, including the two semifinals and the final, would be held in Chennai. The final will be on February 22.
Captains Speak
The tournament will kick off with a match between Kochi Blue Spikers and U Mumba Volley at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
According to Kochi Blue Spikers captain, Mohan Ukkrapandian the league would provide a platform for Indian players to compete with the best from across the world. "The league is a much-needed boost as it gives us a platform to compete with the best in the world. I really hope the fans take to the league in a fitting manner," he said.
U Mumba Volley skipper Dipesh Sinha was upbeat about the league and said it provides an opportunity for young players in the country to rub shoulders with the best from various countries.
The presence of foreign stars including David Lee, a former Olympic gold medallist, Novica Bjelica (Ahmedabad Defenders), Paul Lotman (Calicut Heroes) and Rudy Verhoeff (Chennai Spartans), among others, is expected to add to the league's appeal.
Chennai Spartans skipper Shelton Moses is upbeat about his team's prospects and said the first target is to reach the playoffs first.
"We have a strong team put together with the right balance of experience and youth. Our target is to make it to the playoffs so that we can take advantage of home support during the second leg in Chennai," Moses said.
America's Carson Clark, the only foreign captain of a franchise in the league, said his team Black Hawks Hyderabad had a good mix of players and expected the tournament to do wonders to the sport here.
Ahmedabad Defenders captain Ranjit Singh is the costliest player of the league, who were picked through a draft.
What are the rules
To make the game faster and spectator-friendly, the round-robin matches will have five sets and the first to reach 15 points shall win the set. The winning team will be awarded 2 points. If a team wins 5-0, it will be called a whitewash and the winning team will be awarded 3 points for the same.
The playoffs will see each set of 25 points.
Also, new concepts like Super Serve and Super Point have been introduced to make the league exciting. Each ace served will give the serving team two points, which will be called the Super Serve.
Ticket Priced at Rs 300
Joy Bhattacharjya, CEO, Pro Volleyball League and VFI Secretary-General, Ramavtar Singh Jakhar unveiled the match schedule of the tournament. Jakhar presented the first ticket of the tournament to former volleyball players Suresh Mishra, G Sridharan, Dalel Singh and Amir Singh. The tickets have been priced at Rs 300, while season passes will be made available at a 30 per cent discount.
Pro Volleyball League: Teams
The six franchises taking part in the first edition of PVL are: Ahmedabad Defenders, Calicut Heroes, Chennai Spartans, U Mumba Volley, Black Hawks and Kochi Blue Spikers.
Ahmedabad Defenders is owned by Bonhomie Sports Event Mgmt. Ltd., Kerala’s Calicut Heroes is owned by Beacon Sports while the Chennai Spartans is owned by Chennai Spartans Pvt. Ltd. U Mumba Volley is owned by U Sports, who also own a team in the Kabaddi league while Black Hawks Hyderabad is owned by Agile Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Thomas Muthoot owns the Kochi franchise called the Kochi Blue Spikers.
Pro Volleyball League: Fixtures and schedule
Pro Volleyball League: Players
Indian attacker Ranjit Singh emerged as the top pick in the first Pro Volleyball League auction which also saw six foreign and 117 Indian players going under the hammer on December 14. Singh was the costliest Indian player with Ahmedabad Defenders shelling out Rs 13 lakhs for him.
In the foreign player draft, the Black Hawks Hyderabad got Round 1 first pick and they chose Carson Clark. Paul Lotman was the second pick joining Calicut Heroes. The third pick of the foreign draft was Rudy Verhoeff joining Chennai Spartans. Tomislav Coskovic, David Lee and Novica Bjelica were picked 4th, 5th & 6th by U Mumba Volley, Kochi Blue Spikers and Ahmedabad Defenders respectively.
In the second draft of the Pro Volleyball League, Russia's Victor Sysoev was picked by Ahmedabad Defenders, Slovakian Adrej Patuc by Kochi Blue Spikers, Canada's Nicholas Del Bianco by U Mumba Volley, Latvian Ruskans Sorokins by Chennai Spartans, Canada's Alex Bader by Black Hawks Hyderabad and Republic of Congo's Illouni Ngampourou by Calicut Heroes.
Each of the six teams will have 12 players including two foreign players, one Indian icon player and two Indian U-21 players.
Pro Volleyball League: Where to watch
All the matches will be broadcasted live on Sony Six and Sony Ten 3 and will be streamed live on Sony LIV.
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