Telugu Talons are a professional Indian men's handball team that first competed in the Premier Handball League. Telugu Talons have been the only team from South India. They finished the 2023 edition as semi-finalists. The team is currently owned by the Kankanala Sports Group.
History In the inaugural season of the Premier Handball League, Telugu Talons got off winning their first two games against Garvit Gujarat and Golden Eagles UP. This was followed by two consecutive defeats against Maharashtra Ironmen and Delhi Panzers, before they went on a 4-game win streak. The Talons wrapped up their league stage campaign with a victory over Garvit Gujarat.
In the semi-final they faced defeat in a tightly contested encounter, going down 4–3 in a penalty shootout against the Golden Eagles UP. Rahul TK was awarded the Golden glove for his league-high 184 saves. Telugu Talons announced a sponsorship agreement with A23, an online multi-gaming platform ahead of the 2023 season. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University was announced as the training partner for the season and hosted the official jersey launch of the Talons. Shubham Sheoran was the captain of the team for the first season.
Team records PlayerShotsGoalsEfficiencyPenaltiesPenalties scoredStealsAssistsNaseeb Singh1137869%352647Kailash Patel876878%161637Davinder Bhullar1025857%10737Anil Khudia833846%11466Mohit Kumar522854%00316Rahul Nain292276%0042Raghu Kumara261558%0027Vishal Hadia321547%00418Shubham Sheoran251144%2119Ajay Moyal9667%0008Chirag Chandel13646%2111Mohit Yadav6350%0000Iaroslav Shabanov7229%0012Rey Joshua Tabuzo2150%0000GoalkeepersNameSavesEfficiencyPenalty savesPenalty efficiencyAssists-Rahul T K18440%413%5Andrei Nedbailo1023%627%0Sombir00%00%0
TitleTotal League rankGoals3513rdSaves1953rdPenalty goals 451stShot efficiency60%1stPenalty shot efficiency79%3rdPenalty saves104th
Roster (2023)
No.NamePosition1Andrei NedbailoGoalkeeper2Iaroslav ShabanovLeft back3Rey Joshua TabuzoRight back4Naseeb SinghRight wing5Anil KhudiaCentre back6Shubham SheoranLeft back7Kailash PatelLeft wing8Rahul T KGoalkeeper9Raghu KumaraPivot10Mohit KumarRight back11Chirag ChandelRight wing12Vishal HadiaRight back13Mohit YadavLeft wing14Davinder BhullarLeft back15Ajay MoyalCentre back16SombirGoalkeeper17Rahul NainPivot
Administration and staff (2023)
+PositionNameOwnerKankanala Sports GroupHead coach Fernando NunesAssistant coach Sachin Kumar Bhardwaj
References