KOLKATA: Kolkata Thunderbolts announced their arrival winning the inaugural Rupay Prime Volleyball League championship in February this year.
The only team from Eastern India, the Kolkata-based franchise side led by Ashwal Rai, produced a brilliant all-round display to outsmart Ahmedabad Defenders 15-13, 15-10, 15-12 in the final.
But it seems the franchise is not ready to rest on its laurels. While preparing for the next season, they are out to spread the game among masses also. And in this endeavour, they have planned a unique volleyball tournament in Kolkata later this month.
Keeping Bengalis' biggest festival -- the upcoming Durga Puja in mind, Pawan Kumar Patodia, the chairman & co-owner of Kolkata Thunderbolts and his team announced the launch of Thunderbolts Cup which will be an added celebration of this festival time.
It will be another competition for the local Puja committees who compete for prizes in the best pandals, lights, idols and other categories. This time they will also cross swords for this volleyball title from August 23 to 27.
The organisers expect a strong participation of 64 top Puja committees which will see 640 volleyball players in action. The teams are to be divided into four zones with each having 16 teams.
These 16 teams will again be subdivided into four groups. The group toppers will qualify to play the knockout Round of 16 followed by the quarterfinals and the semifinals. The winners of the semifinals will play the grand finale of the tournament.
“The teams are extremely excited about this tournament to get started. It would be a healthy competition and we expect each player to give his best in celebrating the game of volleyball,” Kolkata Thunderbolts team director Sumedh Patodia said.
