Men's Volleyball Club World C'ships: Ashwal Rai, Muthuswamy urge for home support

Indian national volleyball players Ashwal Rai and Muthuswamy Appavu have urged for passionate home support during the upcoming Men's Volleyball Club World Championships in Bengaluru.

As current champions of the Prime Volleyball League, Ahmedabad Defenders will be taking part in the Men's Volleyball Club World Championships which will be held at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium in Bengaluru.

With 10 high-octane matches set to unfold between December 6-10, this will be India’s first bow at the highest level as the Ahmedabad Defenders face up against the finest from across the world including, reigning champions, Sir Safety Susa Perugia from Italy, the formidable Brazilian duo of Sada Cruzeiro Volei and Minas Tênis Clube, Japan's Suntory Sunbirds Club, and Turkey's Halkbank Spor Kulübü.

India’s best, the Ahmedabad Defenders, stormed into the tournament following a stellar performance that helped them lift the Prime Volleyball League earlier this year.

The Men’s Volleyball Club World Championships 2023 allows teams to sign players from within their respective domestic leagues, and the Defenders have added bite to their line-up with loan deals for some of the best in the business.

Top performers from the other PVL franchises, including former champion and captain of the Kolkata Thunderbolts Ashwal Rai will don the Ahmedabad colours. Coincidentally, Ashwal is one of the many players in the Defenders’ unit, who turned out for India in the recently concluded successful Asian Games campaign.

For Ashwal, the local boy from Karnataka, this serves as yet another opportunity to represent India and understandably, he is delighted.

Ashwal said, “It is a matter of immense pride for us to represent our country against the world’s best Volleyball players. We are fans of many of these players and it will be an honour to compete with them. This will be round 2 after the Asian Games, and no doubt we want to show them what we can do, and especially with the home support backing us, there is potential for some great contests and moments that inspire others.”

Concurring on the thought was, Setter, Muthusamy Appavu, who said, “We will be lucky to have the home advantage and to have our friends and well-wishers support us. I am looking forward to a great atmosphere, much like what we experienced at the Bengaluru leg of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League earlier this year. Bengaluru loves Volleyball, and a well-contested tournament will drive crowds to the stadium, we are sure the fans will come in numbers and boost us up.”

The tournament will put India on the global map of volleyball and will be a huge opportunity for the Indian volleyball ecosystem to put a good show in front of the world.