Volleyball Club World Championships: Ahmedabad Defenders sign two foreigners, name 18-member provisional squad

CHENNAI: Ahmedabad Defenders have acquired the services of two foreigners, Australian outside hitter Max Senica and Belarusian middle blocker Ilya Burau, and named an 18-member provisional playing squad for the upcoming Volleyball Club World Championships.

The squad will be pruned to 14 members ahead of the six-team global event, scheduled to be held in Bengaluru from December 6 to 10.

Ahmedabad had left it too late to sign overseas players and made a last-ditch attempt, which eventually proved successful. Senica has linked up with his teammates for the ongoing pre-tournament camp in Bengaluru and Burau is expected to arrive in India by Saturday.

Seven members – R Angamuthu, T Srikanth, A Muthusamy, S Santhosh, S Nandhagopal, Parth Patel and LM Manoj – from the Prime Volleyball League-winning squad have been picked, while top performers from other PVL franchises like SV Guru Prasanth, Ashwal Rai and Amit Gulia have also been roped in (every side in the Club World Championships is allowed to sign ‘domestic’ players from all teams in the league it competes in).

The Ahmedabad team, whose provisional squad consists of eight players from Tamil Nadu, will be coached by veteran tactician S Dakshinamoorthy.

“It is good that we managed to sign two foreign players as they will add quality to the team. Senica has played for the Australia senior team and has looked good at the camp. Burau will be with us in a few days,” Dakshinamoorthy told TOI on Thursday.

“Some of the domestic players are yet to join us as they are waiting to get clearance from their respective departments (where they are employed). I hope to work with the full squad from the end of the week,” said Dakshinamoorthy.

Ahmedabad, pitted in Pool A, will begin their campaign with a clash against Itambe Minas (Brazil) on December 6 and will face Sir Sicoma Perugia (Italy) in their second and final group match on December 8. Ahmedabad are set to make their way into the history books by becoming the first-ever Indian team to compete at the Club World Championships.

Provisional squad (18 members): R Angamuthu, Amit Gulia, T Srikanth, Ashamatullah, A Muthusamy, A Shameemudheen, MR Vyshak, S Santhosh, S Nandhagopal, Ashwal Rai, R Ramanathan, Parth Patel, LM Manoj, SV Guru Prasanth, Mohan Ukkrapandian, Srajan Shetty, Ilya Burau (o) and Max Senica (o). Head coach: S Dakshinamoorthy.