India to host FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in 2023 and 2024

 

India will host the Volleyball Club World Championship 2023 from December 6 and 10 this year, the global governing body of volleyball (FIVB) announced on Tuesday. The 2024 edition will also be held in India.

The host cities and format for both editions will be decided later.

It will be the first time that the Volleyball Club World Championship, running since 1989, will be held in India. As a host nation, India will be able to field the winners of the Prime Volleyball League, the top volleyball competition in the country, at the Volleyball Club World Championship.

“The best athletes from around the world will come down to India to showcase their talent and our Indian players will get a chance to compete against them. This is in line with our mission to help the Indian volleyball team qualify for the 2028 Olympics,” Tuhin Mishra, co-promoter of the Prime Volleyball League, said. 

Italian club Trentino, with five titles, is the most successful team in the competition.  Sada Cruzeiro from Brazil has won the club world championships four times.

Qatar’s Al Rayyan finished runners-up in 2014. It remains Asia’s best finish in the competition.The qualified teams and final schedule for the Volleyball Club World Championship 2023 will be announced later.

PRIME VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE: Ahmedabad Defenders win thriller against Bengaluru Torpedoes to clinch trophy

 

Ahmedabad Defenders clinched the trophy in the second season of RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 with a 15-7, 15-10, 18-20, 13-15, 15-10 win over the Bengaluru Torpedoes at the Regional Sports Centre, Kochi on Sunday. Angamuthu was named the player of the match for his dominating show.

LM Manoj and Nandhagopal combined early on to put blocks on Bengaluru's attacks. As Ibin and Pankaj got involved in attacks, the Torpedoes showed they are here to fight. But with incessant attacks from Angamuthu, the Defenders maintained their composure. As skipper Muthusamy Appavu began setting up Danial and Manoj, Ahmedabad drew block errors from the Torpedoes and picked up a hefty lead.

With service pressure building, the Torpedoes struggled to run their attacking plays from the middle. Ahmedabad's in-form defence tackled well with Bengaluru's attack, while Angamuthu and Santhosh dismantled the Torpedoes' momentum.

Just when it looked like Ahmedabad will run with the game, Sethu's magic from the service line brought Bengaluru back into the business. Danial almost ended the show with his powerful spikes. But Bengaluru held themselves on, drawing errors from Ahmedabad.

Abalooch tried to use his height to bully Santhosh, but the dual block line of Santhosh and Manoj kept making crucial blocks for Ahmedabad. But with a block on Mujeeb and a magical super-serve, the Torpedoes truly brought the contest back to level pegging and pushed the match to the fifth set.

The battle between the middle Danial and Jishnu raged on in the final set. A clever block from Abalooch brought Bengaluru back into the see-saw battle. Angamuthu's spikes kept testing the Torpedoes' defence. A soft super-serve from Santhosh ended the contest and the Defenders closed out the final set to clinch the trophy.

The RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 will be telecast LIVE on Sony Sports Ten 1 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) & Sony Sports Ten 2 (Malayalam) channels in India and will be streamed on Volleyball World TV outside the Indian subcontinent, starting February 4, Saturday.

INDIA’S PRIME VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE SEMIFINAL LINEUP COMPLETE

Kolkata, Calicut and Bengaluru join Ahmedabad into the last four in India

Just one game away from the end of India’s RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 regular season, the list of semifinalists was finalized. The results of the three matches played so far this week at the Regional Sports Centre (Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium) in Kochi pointed to Kolkata Thunderbolts, Calicut Heroes and Bengaluru Torpedoes as the three teams to join Ahmedabad Defenders, who qualified last week, among the best four of the second season.

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Any win over Chennai Blitz on Monday would have booked Kolkata’s spot in the semifinals. The defending 2022 champions were quick to secure their success in the first three sets of the match and went on to shape up a 4-1 (15-12, 15-9, 15-14, 15-13, 10-15) victory, their fifth in six matches, and improve to 10 points in second place of the standings. Opposite Vinit Kumar was named Player of the Match after leading Thunderbolts’ scorers with 15 points, including two blocks. Chennai’s outside hitter Raman Kumar produced a match-high 16 points, including two blocks and two aces. Chennai finished the season bottom of the table on two points and a 1-6 win-loss record.

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In the week’s most important match, Calicut and Bengaluru went head to head on Tuesday. While Heroes needed to win two sets to advance, Torpedoes had to achieve a 4-1 win or better to book their ticket to the semifinals. Bengaluru won the first two sets, but then Calicut fought back to level the score and breathe easier in the fifth. Bengaluru’s 3-2 (15-11, 15-11, 13-15, 10-15, 15-14) victory was enough for them to overtake Hyderabad Black Hawks in the fourth place in the standings, but to celebrate as semifinalists, Torpedoes had to wait for the result of Wednesday’s game. Their opposite Ibin Jose, who hammered four serving points towards a total of 11 points in the match, earned the Player of the Match award, while his counterpart on Heroes’ side Jerome Vinith mastered the match high of 21 points. Both teams finished the regular season on eight points and a 4-2 win-loss record and were separated on set ratio with Calicut taking third place in the table.

Rookies Mumbai Meteors had a shot at pushing Bengaluru out of the way to take their place among the best four, but they needed a 5-0 whitewash in Wednesday’s game against third leg hosts Kochi Blue Spikers. The result of the very first set of the match, however, put an end to their hopes and set off the Bengaluru Torpedoes celebrations. Kochi went on to win the game by 4-1 (15-14, 15-11, 15-12, 12-15, 15-10) and finished the season on a high note in front of the home fans. Mumbai’s Cuban outside Hiroshi Centelles was the best scorer of the match with 12 points to his name, but the Player of the Match award went to Kochi’s outside Rohit Kumar. Both teams finished on a 2-5 win-loss record, but since one of Meteors’ victories was a 5-0 whitewash and brought them three points, they finished sixth on five points, leaving Blue Spikers in seventh on four.

Thursday’s closing match of the regular season will simply determine the order at the very top of the table. As both sides stand on a 5-1 win-loss record, the winners of the Ahmedabad v Kolkata clash, a remake of last year’s final, will top the final standings, while the losers will progress to the semis as runners-up