Bengaluru, February 15th: The action of the second season of RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23 has shifted to Hyderabad and all eyes will be on the crucial encounter between the defending champions Kolkata Thunderbolts and the fan-favourites Calicut Heroes. Both the teams are unbeaten in the tournament so far with the Thunderbolts winning all three matches in Bengaluru, and the Heroes winning both their encounters as well.
When the two teams collide at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday, both teams will be looking to continue their winning momentum.
"Winning the first three games is something phenomenal that the team has achieved. The tournament is not over yet, so we must not lose our focus. We all are still learning from our mistakes and improving with each passing game. We are taking it game-by-game and supporting each other," Kolkata Thunderbolts' captain Ashwal Rai said.
Calicut Heroes' setter Mohan Ukkrapandian also spoke on the upcoming contest and said that it will be an interesting contest.
"Each day, certain things work out for you, and certain things do not. Every team has their own strengths and weaknesses. But Kolkata are a strong team and they have been unbeaten so far. We have also been unbeaten and we have worked on the errors that we made in the first two matches, so it will be an interesting contest," he said.
Meanwhile, Ashwal believes that the Thunderbolts have to work hard to continue their winning momentum against Calicut.
"Calicut Heroes are one of the best teams in the league. So, we have to work hard to win the game. Both teams are equally strong and unbeaten. We both will try our best to win the game. We want to continue our momentum and enter the next game on the back of a win.
"We are sticking to the plans that we have used since the start of the tournament. We are also analyzing the foreign players and their games so far and we will make adaptations to our plan accordingly," he further said.
Mohan, too, said that his side will not worry too much about the opposition and focus on the areas which have worked for them so far.
"We are focusing on our strengths and not worrying about the opposition. We know what we need to do and we will keep our focus on that in the match. It is important for us to win and continue the momentum," he added.
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.
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