Stage set for inaugural edition of RuPay Pro Volleyball League

The stage is set for the inaugural edition of the RuPay Pro Volleyball League. Marking the occasion, captains of all the six franchises posed with the trophy at the iconic back waters of Kochi. The league, which is an initiative of Baseline Ventures and Volleyball Federation of India will kick start with a match between Kochi Blue Spikers and U Mumba Volley on Feb 2nd 2019 at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi.

Speaking on the occasion Kochi Blue Spikers captain, Mohan Ukkrapandian said, “Finally the moment which we were waiting for has arrived. 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.”

Taking on Spikers will be U Mumba Volley. Skipper Dipesh Sinha was upbeat about the league. “The league is ensuring that upcoming talent also gets a chance to rub shoulders against the best in business. It couldn't have been more challenging than to start the league playing against the home team, but we are prepared for it,” voiced Sinha.

The other team from Kerala in the league is Calicut Heroes and is led by Jerome Vinith. He couldn't hide his excitement of starting the campaign in Kerala to begin with. “I am glad the first leg of the tournament is happening in Kerala. The state and the city of Kochi are the hub for many sports and considering that this is the first edition of the league I am expecting a great turnout in all the matches,” said Vinith.

In order to make the game faster and more spectator-friendly, the round robin matches will see five sets of 15 points each and the first to reach 15 points shall win the set. The playoffs will see each set of 25 points. Winning team will be awarded 2 points. If a team wins by 5-0, it will be called a whitewash and the winning team will be awarded 3 points for the same.

There is more to the league as two new concepts of Super Serve and Super Point have been introduced to make it exciting. Each ace served will give the serving team two points, which will be called the Super Serve. On the other hand, each team can call for a Super Point once every set, if the team calling the Super Point wins the point it will get two points and if the team loses the point the opposing team gets a two-point advantage. The Super Point though can only be taken before a team has reached 11 points and cannot be carried forward.

Chennai Spartans-skipper, Shelton Moses is upbeat about his team's prospects. He said the team's 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,” said Moses.

The only foreign captain of the league Carson Clark from Black Hawks Hyderabad seemed equally excited, “India is a new frontier for me and there is a huge scope for the league to do wonders to the sport here. More importantly, the little tweaks made in the format of the league will only make the game more interesting,” said Clark.

Ranjit Singh the costliest player of the league and Captain of Ahmedabad Defenders said, “This league is going to change the life of many players. Most of the players in our team know each other well and if we play to our strengths, we should be able achieve our goals.”

CEO, Pro Volleyball League, Joy Bhattacharjya sounded optimistic and said, “We are just one day away from the start of the league. A lot of hard work and planning has gone in the journey building up to the first day of the league. I am hopeful that the teams will put up a great show for the fans of the sport.”

The tickets are available at the box office and have been priced at Rs. 299 while season passes are made available at a 30% discount and the early bird tickets are available at a 20% discount. All the tickets are also available on Paytm and Insider.in, the tournament’s official ticketing partners.

Six franchises will be vying for the RuPay Pro Volleyball League title in the first edition. 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.

All the matches will be broadcasted live on Sony Six and Sony Ten 3 and will be streamed live on Sony LIV.

The schedule of the league is as follows: