SV Guru Prasanth says it felt surreal to perform on such a big stage
On Tuesday, the table-topping Kolkata Thunderbolts will face the Hyderabad Black Hawks in the twelfth match of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad. SV Guru Prasanth, who was named Player of the Match in Hyderabad Black Hawks’ 5-0 win over Chennai Blitz on Sunday, said it was weird to perform on such a huge platform. “It felt great to win the match 5-0, especially after suffering two defeats in a succession. We’ll try to perform well in the following games and, perhaps, make it to the semi-finals. It seemed odd to perform on such a large stage for the first time, and it was fantastic to play in the starting six for the first time.”
When questioned about their incredible comeback from 9-14 to 15-14 in the first set, the Universal player responded, “The team fell behind in the first set because we used a fresh lineup for the match. However, as the game proceeded, we found our groove. We played a terrific game, and everything went our way. We have strong synergy as a squad, which helped us battle through the whole match.”
Speaking about their next match against the Black Hawks, Kolkata Thunderbolts Captain Ashwal Rai said, “The Hyderabad Black Hawks played really well against Chennai Blitz to win 5-0. However, we know the Hyderabad players’ game very well and we will devise our plans according to the way they carry out their game. We will give our best and not be deterred by their form. We will trust our plan and focus on executing it.”
The Thunderbolts have won all three of their matches in the tournament so far. When asked about the secret behind their success this season, the skipper said, “We only think about our next match and we don’t think too much about our past matches. We devise our strategies and try to execute them. There’s no extra pressure on any of the players, whether we win or lose. Everyone has been given the freedom to play their own games. Our goal is to win the competition and we will try our level best to do so. All of us trust each other within the group and that’s our biggest strength as a side.”
The Kolkata Thunderbolts will take on Hyderabad Black Hawks at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad at 1850 hrs on Tuesday, 15 February 2022.
Watch the RuPay Prime Volleyball League powered by A23, LIVE and Exclusive on SONY TEN 1, SONY TEN 2 (Malayalam), SONY TEN 3 (Hindi) and SONY TEN 4 (Tamil and Telugu). The RuPay Prime Volleyball League is exclusively marketed by Baseline Ventures, the leading sports marketing firm in the nation. RuPay, the first-of-its-kind Global Card payment network from India, has come on board as the Title Sponsor of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League and Fantasy games leaders A23 have signed on as “Powered By” Sponsors in a multi-year deal.
Byju’s, Cred, Dafa News, EatFit, Amul Kool and Nippon Paint have come on board as Associate Sponsors and Cosco & Apollo Hospitals have associated with the RuPay Prime Volleyball League as the Official Partners. ShareChat and Moj are the Official Content Partners of the RuPay Prime Volleyball League.
The RuPay Prime Volleyball League will feature a total of 24 matches.
