Pro Volleyball League
Indian professional volleyball league
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pro Volleyball League (PVL) was a professional men's indoor volleyball league in India.[1] The inaugural season took place in February 2019.[2] The league was an initiative between the Volleyball Federation of India, Head Digital Works Pvt. Ltd. and Baseline Ventures. The inaugural season of the league was won by Chennai Spartans.[3] In June 2022, the league was rebranded as Prime Volleyball League.[4]
| Most recent season or competition: 2019 Pro Volleyball League | |
| Sport | Volleyball |
|---|---|
| First season | 2019 |
| Replaced by | Prime Volleyball League |
| CEO | Joy Bhattacharjya |
| Administrator | Volleyball Federation of India Head Digital Works Pvt. Ltd. Baseline Ventures |
| No. of teams | 6 |
| Country |  India |
| Venues | Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium |
Most recent champion | Chennai Spartans |
| Broadcaster | Sony Pictures Networks India |
| Website | provolleyball |
Structure
The Pro Volleyball League encompassed six franchises, representing cities across India. All teams filed tenders with Baseline Ventures, listing the two cities they would be interested in bidding for.[5] The teams were officially announced at a press conference in Mumbai.[6]
Teams
| City | Team Name | International Players | Team Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ahmedabad | Ahmedabad Defenders | Novica Bjelica and Victor Sysoev | Bonhomie Sports Event Management Limited[7] |
| Kozhikode | Calicut Heroes | Paul Lotman and Iluoni Ngampourou | Beacon Sports[7] |
| Chennai | Chennai Spartans | Rudy Verhoeff and Ruslans Sorokins | Chennai Spartans Sports Private Limited[7] |
| Hyderabad | Black Hawks Hyderabad | Carson Clark and Alexander Bader | Agile Entertainment Private Limited[7] |
| Kochi | Kochi Blue Spikers | David Lee and Andrej Patuc | Thomas Muthoot[7] |
| Mumbai | U Mumba Volley | Tomislav Coskovic and Nicholas Del Bianco | U Sports[7] |
Format
Each team will have 12 players with a maximum of two reserve players. All teams have a salary purse of ₹75 lakhs from which they pick their team via an auction and player draft.[8] Players are divided into five categories – International Icons, Indian Icons, Sr. Indian Internationals, Nationals, and U-21 players. The International Icon players are picked through a draft process while the Indian players are chosen via an auction.[9] Ranjit Singh of Punjab emerged as the top pick in Season 1. Ahmedabad Defenders shelled out ₹13 lakhs for him at the auction.[10]
There were a total of 18 matches in Season 1. Each team plays against each other in a round-robin format with the top 4 teams moving into the Semi-Finals.[11] In Season 1, matches were held in Kochi at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium and in Chennai at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.[citation needed]
Season 1
The first season started on 2 February 2019 and concluded on 22 February 2019.
Fixtures
| Date | Venue | Phase | Fixture | Winner | Result | Man of the match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02-Feb-19 | Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Kochi | Matchday 1 - Round Robin | Kochi Blue Spikers Vs U Mumba Volley | Kochi[12] | 4-1 | Mohan Ukkrapandian |
| 03-Feb-19 | Matchday 2 - Round Robin | Calicut Heroes Vs Chennai Spartans | Calicut[13] | 4-1 | Ajith Lal C | |
| 04-Feb-19 | Matchday 3 - Round Robin | Ahmedabad Defenders Vs Blackhawks Hyderabad | Hyderabad[14] | 2-3 | Carson Clark | |
| 05-Feb-19 | Matchday 4 - Round Robin | Calicut Heroes Vs U Mumba Volley | Calicut[15] | 3-2 | Saqlain Tariq | |
| 06-Feb-19 | Matchday 5 - Round Robin | Kochi Blue Spikers Vs Ahmedabad Defenders | Kochi[16] | 3-2 | Mohan Ukkrapandian | |
| 07-Feb-19 | Matchday 6 - Round Robin | Chennai Spartans Vs Blackhawks Hyderabad | Chennai[17] | 4-1 | Naveen Raja Jacob | |
| 08-Feb-19 | Matchday 7 - Round Robin | Kochi Blue Spikers Vs Blackhawks Hyderabad | Kochi[18] | 3-2 | David Lee | |
| 09-Feb-19 | Matchday 8 - Round Robin | Kochi Blue Spikers Vs Calicut Heroes | Calicut[19] | 0-5 | Paul Lotman | |
| 10-Feb-19 | Matchday 9 - Round Robin | Calicut Heroes Vs Blackhawks Hyderabad | Calicut[20] | 3-2 | Kamlesh Khatik | |
| 11-Feb-19 | Matchday 10 - Round Robin | Kochi Blue Spikers Vs Chennai Spartans | Kochi[21] | 3-2 | David Lee | |
| 12-Feb-19 | Matchday 11 - Round Robin | U Mumba Volley Vs Blackhawks Hyderabad | Hyderabad[22] | 2-3 | Carson Clark | |
| 13-Feb-19 | Matchday 12 - Round Robin | Calicut Heroes Vs Ahmedabad Defenders | Calicut [23] | 4-1 | Paul Lotman | |
| 16-Feb-19 | Nehru Indoor Stadium, Chennai | Matchday 13 - Round Robin | Chennai Spartans Vs U Mumba Volley | Mumbai[24] | 2-3 | Deepesh Sinha |
| 17-Feb-19 | Matchday 14 - Round Robin | Chennai Spartans Vs Ahmedabad Defenders | Chennai[25] | 4-1 | Rudy Verhoeff | |
| 18-Feb-19 | Matchday 15 - Round Robin | U Mumba Volley Vs Ahmedabad Defenders | Mumbai[26] | 4-1 | Vinit Kumar | |
| 19-Feb-19 | Matchday 16 - Semi Final 1 | Calicut Heroes Vs U Mumba Volley | Calicut [26] | 3-0 | Jerome Vinith | |
| 20-Feb-19 | Matchday 17 - Semi Final 2 | Kochi Blue Spikers Vs Chennai Spartans | Chennai[27] | 2-3 | Ruslans Sorokin | |
| 22-Feb-19 | Matchday 18 - Final | Calicut Heroes Vs Chennai Spartans | Chennai[28] | 0-3 | Naveen Raja Jacob |