The ‘Chennai Blitz’ team will represent Tamil Nadu in the second season of Rupay Prime Volleyball League. Held across Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi, the season started on February 4.
For the roster this year, they were able to get international players like Brazilian attacker Renato Mendes, and outside hitter Moyo Audran from Cameroon in addition to the Indian players like Jobin Varghese, Raman Kumar, and Tushar Laware. The captain of the team is Naveen Raja Jacob.
At a press meet, Vikranth Reddy, one of the co-owners of the team said, “With a strong squad and a determined team, we are confident in our ability to bring home the win.” The team has been coached by Ruben Velachi, who is said to have trained the team very well, according to co-owner Hanimi Reddy.
The first season of Rupay Prime Volleyball League took place from February 5 to 27, 2022, at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad. Previously, Chennai Blitz had come sixth in season one, with Ahmedabad Defenders, Kolkata Thunderbolts and Calicut Heroes forming the top three.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Tuhin Mishra, co-founder of Baseline Ventures and PVL’s co-promoter said, “This season has become much bigger for various reasons. Last year, we were doing it at only one venue, which was Hyderabad because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This season, we've got 8 teams, we've got 31 matches. And there are three host cities. We're starting from Bangalore, then we move to Hyderabad and then Cochin for the third phase including the semi-finals and final.”
The first two games of the season saw Kolkata Thunderbolts and Calicut Heroes defeating Bengaluru Torpedos and Mumbai Meteors, respectively. Chennai Blitz is slated to play their first game against Kochi Blue Spikers on February 7 at Koramangala Indoor Stadium.