After twelve days of thrilling action at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi, the RuPay Pro Volleyball League 2019 moves over to a new destination - Chennai. The capital city of Tamil Nadu will host the next set of matches, along with the semifinals and final at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium.
The home side, Chennai Spartans, will open the Chennai leg as they take on U Mumba Volley in the 13th match of the league. Chennai has won one out of their three matches so far, whereas the U Mumba Volley side has struggled to notch up a single win in three matches.
Match Overview
The two sides will approach the Chennai leg with hopes of staying alive in the playoffs race. Chennai Spartans currently occupy the fourth spot on the RuPay Pro Volleyball League Standings with 2 points but have two matches in hand to leapfrog above the Black Hawks Hyderabad.
U Mumba Volley has a very slim chance of making the playoffs, with 0 points on the table but can make it with dominant wins in their two games in Chennai.
The Spartans have shown glimpses of their strong all-around play on the court but have been undone by their lack of consistency. They managed to get a 4-1 win over the Black Hawks Hyderabad last week but succumbed to a 3-2 loss to Kochi Blue Spikers. They let a 2-0 lead go to waste allowing the Blue Spikers to script a stunning comeback win.
U Mumba Volley has suffered a similar fate of low consistency to that of Chennai Spartans but have been worse off, not being able to secure a win in three matches. The side, led by Deepesh Kumar Sinha, lost their previous two matches against the Calicut Heroes and Black Hawks Hyderabad by a margin of 3-2.
U Mumba will hope to get their first win and aim to launch a bid to make the playoffs despite the odds being against them.
Predicted Starting Six
Chennai Spartans - Shelton Moses (c), Rudy Verhoeff, Ruslans Sorokins, Akhin GS, Kapil Dev KJ, Naveen Raja Jacob
U Mumba Volley - Deepesh Kumar Sinha (c), Tomislav Coskovic, Prince, Saqlain Tariq, Pankaj Sharma, Vinit Kumar
Telecast details, when and where to watch
Date: 16th February 2019, Saturday
Start time: 6.50 PM IST
Live Telecast: Sony Six, Sony Ten 3
Live Streaming: Sony LIV (App and Website)