With the end of its auction procedure late on Sunday, the Premier Handball League’s debut season moves one step closer to completion. Six franchises, namely the Delhi Panzers, Garvit Gujarat, Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra Ironmen, Rajasthan Team (yet to be named), and Telugu Talons, had 116 players available for selection, including top international, Indian, and domestic handball talent.
All 18 of the international players were selected by the teams, and the auctions began with the category of foreign players. The international players represented the Asian Handball Federation among other federations. Only one foreign right-back, left-back and custodian could be chosen by each squad.
In terms of the biggest foreign imports, Telugu Talons went for the services of Andrei Igorevich Nedbailo (goalkeeper) from Russia, a six-time Russian champion. Garvit Gujarat picked up Tuliboev Mukhtor (right back) from Uzbekistan; the 24-year-old is known for his exploits with the Uzbek team at the Interamnia World Cup, wherein they clinched gold. Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh also made sure they didn’t fall short and went all out to secure the services of Iran’s Omid Reza (goalkeeper), who has represented his country in the IHF Handball World Cup in the last two World Cup editions.
On the other hand, the Maharashtra Ironmen secured the services of Iran’s right back, Jalal Kiani. Kiani is a silver medalist with the national team at the Asian Games. The Delhi Panzers went for the 20-year-old Artem Martynov (right back) from Russia, a 2019 Russian Handball Championship gold medalist. Lastly, it was the Rajasthan team (yet to be named) that selected the services of Iraq’s left-back Baderaladeen Naser, a release said.
The second category was reserved for Indian star players, and 42 players were up for selection by the franchises.
Under this category, each team was allowed to pick only one player for each of the seven positions, i.e., right back, left back, centre back, right wing, left wing, and pivot. Amongst the top Indian buys, Telugu Talons went for Raghu Kumara (Pivot), a four-time national champion; Garvit Gujarat secured Harender Singh Nain (Right Back) as their star Indian player, a three-time national champion and a two-time gold medallist at the Federation Cup Tournaments; and Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh selected Bhushan Shinde (Right Wing) as their most valuable Indian asset for the league.
For the Maharashtra Ironmen, winger Ankit Kumar, a member of gold medal-winning Indian squads for the IHF Trophy in 2016 and 2018, and a silver medallist at the 2019 South Asian Games, was the most valuable player. Delhi Panzers went for Pivot Mintu Sardar, again a three-time national champion, and lastly, it was Rajasthan who selected Robin Singh (left back), a four-time national champion, as their most valuable Indian star player, a release said.
The final category of the day was called “role players,” and 56 domestic Indian players were a part of it. 42 out of the 56 were picked. Telugu Talons’ most valuable player in this category was Rahul Nain (Pivot), Garvit Gujarat went with Right Back Surender Kumar, and Golden Eagles selected Sanchit Gupta (Right Wing), and Mohit Punia (Right Back) joined Maharashtra Ironmen. Delhi Panzers went with youth and picked up the 20-year-old pivot Deepak, and lastly, Rajasthan secured Mohit Ghanghas (left back) as their biggest player in the role players category.