Category: Handball

by Abhishek Shukla

South Asia’s inaugural Women’s Handball League launched in India

New Delhi, February 6, 2024: Marking a historic milestone, India is set to witness South Asia’s first-ever professional Women’s Handball League (WHL) which will be featuring prominent players from the Middle East, South East, Europe, and Africa.

The groundbreaking league is promoted by Pavna Sports Venture which is the official licensee holder, under the auspices of the South Asian Handball Federation, the Asian Handball Federation, and supported by the Handball Association of India.

With six teams set to compete in the inaugural edition, the league promises to be a game-changer for women’s handball in India by not only providing a transformative platform for players to showcase their skills but also creating a platform that will be able to churn future champions from the Sport.

The inclusion of players from around the globe will enhance the league’s diversity and competitiveness, promising to create a spectacle of best-in-class Handball action for sports fans across the country.

Commenting on the announcement of the revolutionary league during the press conference, Mr. Anandeshwar Pandey, League Chairman of the Handball Association of India & Secretary General of the South Asian Handball Federation expressed, “We are proud to be part of this historic moment as we launch India’s first Women’s Handball League. This league is a significant step forward in our mission to promote and develop women’s handball across the country. By joining forces with Pavna Sports Venture and the Asian and international bodies, our aim is to elevate the standard of women’s handball in India and provide our athletes with a world-class platform to compete at the highest level. This league marks the beginning of a new era for women’s handball as well as women’s sports for our country.”

India’s Girls Handball Team won the prestigious “Asian Presidents Cup” title for the first time in Jordan last year while the Indian Girls Junior Handball team also made history by winning the Gold Medal at the Asian Junior Girls Championship and qualified for the World Championship last year.

In the Asian Games 2022, the Indian women’s handball team secured the 5th position in the rankings.

Pavna Sports Venture is set to make a substantial investment of INR 100+ crores over the next three years in the sport to focus on infrastructure development, talent identification, and creating of top-notch coaching facilities for the game at grassroots level.

The WHL also plans to integrate foreign exchange programs as a crucial part of its grassroots development initiatives with the international federations to provide a holistic development platform for players that will provide them with the necessary exposure and experience to make their name in the sport both nationally as well as globally.

“As a Corporate group, Pavna Sports Venture is a strong advocate of women’s sports empowerment, believing that sports as a tool can facilitate the growth of an individual in multiple aspects The conception of the Women’s Handball League aims to bridge existing gaps not only in women’s handball but also in women’s sports across India. Our primary goal is to establish an inclusive ecosystem that empowers women’s handball to thrive and secure a premium position within Women’s Sports Leagues in India. Through this league, we will also aim to provide a platform for the New Generation Women to achieve financial, mental, physical, and emotional independence thereby empowering and inspiring millions of women throughout the country to embrace sports. We are aiming to launch the league by January 2025,” stated Mrs. Priya Jain, Executive Director of Pavna Industries & Chairperson of Pavna Sports Venture.

Handball is recognized as the fastest Olympic sport where two teams, each comprising seven players pass a ball using their hands, aiming to throw it into the opposing team’s goal.

A standard match is divided into two periods of 30 minutes each, and the team with more goals at the end of the match emerges as the winner.

Women’s handball in India has been on the rise with over 300,000 girls and women actively engaging in handball across various levels in India, representing schools, colleges, universities, CISF, CRPF, Railways, Services Sports Control Board (Army, Navy, Airforce), Sports Authority of India, Sports Promotion Board, and more.

by Abhishek Shukla

Premier Handball League licensee Bluesport Entertainment to invest 240 crore for the development of sport and its ecosystem in the next five years in India

New Delhi, September 15, 2021: With a vision to develop the handball ecosystem in India and take the sport to the next level, Bluesport Entertainment Pvt Ltd, the official license holders of the Premier Handball League (PHL) under the aegis of the Handball Federation of India (HFI), has announced a mammoth investment of INR 240 crore. The company has also disinvested shares and onboarded entrepreneurs Vivek Lodha and Abhinav Banthia as their strategic investors.
The company will use the funding to accelerate the growth of both men’s and women’s handball in India in the next five years, providing it with a much-needed boost not just at elite level but also at the grassroot.


“Investment as well as having the right people as partners is key to developing any sport. Apart from creating a professional handball league and its marketing, we are also looking at a holistic approach to develop the sport at the grass root level through various strategic collaborations and customised programs especially curated to train the players, coaches as well as upgrading the handball infrastructure in India. The business acumen of Mr Vivek Lodha and Mr Abhinav Banthia and our vision to revolutionise this fastest Olympics sport in India under the guidance of the HFI are some of the reasons that ensured the board to go ahead with this investment,” said Manu Agrawal, CEO and Co-Founder, Bluesport Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.
The company has already acquired the rights for both men’s and women’s leagues—PHL, in India for the next 10 years. With an investment of INR 120 crore each for the men’s and women’s games, it plans to spend 35 cr for the grassroot development, nurturing and training junior and sub-junior talents in the country as well as implementing a well-structured program to help local coaches acquire international standards. It will also provide necessary international exposure and foreign training opportunities to the Indian players through the league.  

“Handball is already a popular and much followed sport globally and with a massive youth population in India, there has been a steady rise in the appetite for new age sports. We will be using 25% of the funding in promoting handball across the country, tapping the interest while 15% of it will go into developing the infrastructure which, I feel, will be the key factor in the growth of the sport in India. In the next five years we not only want to change the way handball is being played or perceived in the country but also to make the PHL a commercially viable product. We expect 33% growth in terms of compound annual growth rate and believe both the men’s and women’s leagues are capable of recovering the investment and turning profitable by the end of their respective third seasons,” Agrawal further added.
Played by over 190 countries across the world, handball has immense popularity in India at the grassroot level with more than 85000 registered players currently. It is one of the few sports where female players match the competitiveness of their male counterparts and it also demands a great physical fitness.
The much-awaited inaugural edition of the PHL is scheduled to take place next year as the franchise-based league is all set to add a new and exciting chapter in the history of Indian handball.

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South Bengal edge North Bengal in WB State Handball Championship 2016

KOLKATA: Ten Districts took part in 62nd West Bengal State Handball Championships 2016 for Under-14 Boys & Girls between 29th to 31st July, 2016 at Behala Parnasree Vidyamandir in Kolkata organised by District Council for School Games & Sports, South Kolkata in a befitting manner.
 
Handball is a very popular sport started at Rotak City in Haryana. Later on West Bengal Handball Association formed in Kidderpore, Kolkata.
 
The sport was introduced in the Olympics Games in 1936 at Berlin, In the Final Then West Germany beat Austria by 2-1 with a record number of spectators around 1 lakh.
 
Final Results (Under-14 Categories):
 
Girls: North 24 Parganas beat Jalpaiguri by 10-01 goals.
Key Players (North 24 Parganas): Sucheta Das (5 goals), Tumpa Pramanik, Trisha Mallik, Dipa Biswas & Nafisa parveen.
Coach: Shri Tushar Pathak.
 
Boys: Bankura beat Coochbehar by 20-11 goals.
Key players (Bankura): Jitendranath Soren (10 goals), Debu Tudu (7 goals), Malay Hansda & Mankar Hembram .
Coach: Shri Mangaljit Deora.