The Volleyball Men's Club World Championship 2023 is the 18th edition of the tournament hosted by the Federation Internationale de Volleyball annually with six participants. Ahmedabad Defenders will be the first Indian club to represent the country in the global event.
Defenders, who are the winners of Prime Volleyball 2023, will play Brazilian club Itambe Minas in their first match on December 6. The Ahmedabad outfit will be captained by Indian setter Muthusamy Appavu in the six-team event in the presence of other Indian stars that featured in the Asian Games 2023.
On the other hand, Itambe Minas returns to the tournament after finishing fourth in the last edition. This will be their third appearance in the men's club world championship with Lucas Loh to leading the side. The club will boast the presence of national players Maique Nascimento (libero) and Isac Santos (middle blocker), with another option in American middle blocker Austin Wilmot.
Ahmedabad Defenders vs Itambe Minas: Match Details
Match Details: Ahmedabad Defenders vs Itambe Minas
Date & Time: December 6, 2023, 8:30 pm IST
Venue: Koramangala Indoor Stadium, Bengaluru
Ahmedabad Defenders vs Itambe Minas: Head-to-Head
The Ahmedabad Defenders and Itambe Minas have never faced each other on previous ocassions, and, thus, this will be their first meeting on a volleyball court. The Indian club makes its maiden appearance in the competition.
Ahmedabad Defenders vs Itambe Minas Squads
Ahmedabad Defenders
Muthusamy Appavu (c), Ukkrapandian Mohan, Tamilvanan Srikanth, Ramanathan Ramamoorthy, Max Senica (overseas), Amit Gulia, Azmath Ullah, Santosh Sahaya Anothoni Raj, Nandagopal Subramaniyam, Ashwal Rai, Shameemudheen Ammarambath, Srajan Shetty, Parth Patel and Manoj Manjunatha.
Coach: Dakshinamoorthy Sundaresan
Itambe Minas
Austin Wilmot, Gustavo Orlando, Lucas Loh (c), Paulo Vinícios Ferreira da Silva, Murilo Radke, Samuel Neufeld, Marcus Vinicius, Michael Sanchez, Isac Santos, Renan Michelucci, Maique Nascimento, Kelvi Geovani, Bryan Lucas and Filipe Baioco.
Coach: Guilherme Novaes Pinto Ferreira
Ahmedabad Defenders vs Itambe Minas: Predicted starting lineup
Ahmedabad Defenders
Muthusamy Appavu, Ashwal Rai, Shameemudheen Ammarambath, Srajan Shetty, Tamilvanan Srikanth and Amit Gulia.
Itambe Minas
Austin Wilmot, Gustavo Orlando, Lucas Loh, Isac Santos, Maique Nascimento and Michael Sanchez.
Ahmedabad Defenders vs Itambe Minas Prediction
The Ahmedabad team is definitely rising above their weight with their success in the Indian volleyball circuit; however, one cannot count out Itambe Minas, who have won seven Superliga titles, the top league for Brazil's men's volleyball clubs.
Prediction: Itambe Minas is expected to win.
Ahmedabad Defenders vs Itambe Minas: Live telecast details and channel list
TV: Sony Ten1 and Sony Ten3
Live Streaming: FanCode app and Volleyball World YouTube channel