Premier Handball League set to begin on December 24

The first season of the league will take place in Jaipur.

Indian handball is all set to witness a revolution as the Premier Handball League (PHL) gears up to roll out its inaugural edition at the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium in Jaipur.

PHL, under the aegis Handball Federation of India (HFI)-the governing body for the handball in India which administer the functioning of sport in the country, is scheduled to take place from December 24 to January 10, 2021.

"This is going to be a significant moment in the Indian handball history as the Premier Handball League will infuse fresh breath to the sport which has immense potential at the grassroots level. The league will bring exciting competition among the players as well as help build handball as a brand. Handball already enjoys huge popularity globally and as a federation, our vision is to create a similar holistic growth story in India too,” said HFI President Arshnapally Jagan Mohan Rao at the launch of the PHL in Jaipur.

Rajiv Arora, Vice President of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress, HFI Vice President Anandeshwar Pandey, Thakur Tejraj Singh, HFI, PHL co-promoters Aseem Merchant and Manu Agrawal and CEO Mrinalini Sharma were also present at the launch.

Ranked 32 in the world, the Indian team will get new impetus with the emergence of the Premier Handball League. At the time when the sporting world has been affected due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the upcoming season 1 of the league will also infuse fresh breath as active sports makes a comeback. An 18-day men’s event will consist of 30 league matches followed by three knockout games.

With a strong presence of the states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Jammu, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Telangana, handball has been identified as a priority sport listed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme.

“We have close to 80000 registered players playing the game in India. This is a huge number considering the presence of the sport in India. Handball is an Olympic sport and India is looked as the next big thing by the international federation in terms of talent and opportunities. I feel Premier Handball League has come at the right time which will help us in our mission for Olympics and build the impact of the sport in India,” said HFI Vice President Anandeshwar Pandey.

The Season 1 of the league will have six teams, representing the six states-Telangana Tigers, UP Icons, Maharashtra Handball Hustlers, KingHawks Rajasthan, Bengal Blues and Punjab Pitbulls, battling for the ultimate title. The PHL will see more than 80 players taking part in the inaugural edition as each team will consist of 14 players.

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The league will be broadcasted live on Sony Pictures Sports Network while FanCode will bring it to the fans across the globe online. The matches will also be streamed live on Airtel TV, Jio TV and Sony Liv.