Padmanabh Sports unveils three sports franchises across Cue Sports, Volleyball, and Badminton
Gujarat will have its first full-fledged home-grown sports franchise with teams across disciplines from August 2017. The franchise owned by Gujarat's Padmanabh Sports Pvt Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of Ahmedabad-based Padmanabh Industries Ltd was unveiled in the city on Friday.
The first of the franchise is set to play in the nation's first Indian Cue Masters League, Cue Slam, promoted by SportzLive Entertainment (SLE). The franchise titled Gujarat Kings will participate in the league from 19-25 August 2017, to be held at Rajpath Club, Ahmedabad and will be telecast live on Sony ESPN. Owned by Mr Ashish Shah, Chairman & Managing Director of Padmanabh Industries, Gujarat Kings was one of the five franchises unveiled alongside the members of the squad in Hyderabad last week.
Padmanabh Sports Pvt Ltd also unveiled two more franchises on Friday. A franchise that will play in the upcoming Volleyball League, Gujarat Volley Masters and a new team in the Premier Badminton League (PBL), Gujarat Smash Masters.
With the unveiling of the three franchises, Padmanabh Industries has become the first full-fledged sports venture of Gujarat and will work in partnership with the state government to enhance the sporting culture. Acquiring franchisees of
“It has been a long-cherished dream for me to create a sustainable ecosystem to promote
For now, Gujarat Kings will get ready for the first bout at the inaugural Indian Cue Masters League. The Gujarat Kings squad will be coached by Mumbai's Ashok Shandilya. In a star-studded career, Shandilya has won gold at the 2014 IBSF World Team Billiards Championship and has also been the IBSF World Billiards Short Format Champion.
Commenting on the league, Mr. Prasad Mangipudi, Executive Director of SLE, said: “We are excited that Ahmedabad is hosting the inaugural edition of Cue Slam and are grateful for all the support we have received. Given our partnership with Padmanabh Industries, we are very happy that Gujarat will now have a team they call their own. We wish Ashish and team, all the very best.”
Each of the five squads comprises of five players, including:
a. 1 Icon Player
b. 1 Female Player
c. 3 Male Players
The squad was chosen via a player draft held in Hyderabad last week.
Welsh professional snooker player, Andrew Pagett, will lead the Kings’ campaign as the icon player. He has won two Amateur Titles and is mostly noted for his wins over former world champion Neil Robertson and world number one Mark Selby.
The rest of the squad features a good mix of players with Indian contingent of Alok Kumar, Sourav Kothari and Brijesh Damani expected to provide a strong thrust.
“We have managed to assemble the best possible squad through the draft. The presence of an experienced player like Ashok Shandilya as coach will ensure that the squad will be able to learn a lot. In the squad, we have players who have been excelling at the world stage in various formats and I am confident of a successful campaign ahead,” added Mr. Shah.
Gujarat Kings: Icon: Andrew Pagett, Female: Daria Sirotina, Remaining Squad: Alok Kumar, Sourav Kothari, Brijesh Damani; Coach: Ashok Shandilya
