One of the more formidable sides in the RuPay Prime Volleyball League Powered by A23 in the inaugural season, Bengaluru Torpedoes narrowly missed out on a semi-finals berth.

The Bengaluru-based franchise finished fifth in the standings with six points from as many games. Interestingly, third-placed Calicut Heroes and fourth-placed Hyderabad Black Hawks edged them by just a solitary point to qualify for the knockouts.

Led by veteran volleyball star Ranjit Singh, Bengaluru Torpedoes started their Season 1 campaign with a win over Kochi Blue Spikers 14-15, 12-15, 15-13, 15-9, 15-14 in a nail-biting encounter. Under the tutelage of head coach K. R. Lakshminarayana, the Torpedoes continued their impressive start by overcoming Hyderabad Black Hawks 15-12, 14-15, 15-12, 11-15, 15-13 to register consecutive victories.

However, they went on to succumb to their first defeat after going down to the dominant Kolkata Thunderbolts 13-15, 8-15, 15-9, 12-15, 10-15. In their fourth clash of the campaign, the Bengaluru-based franchise suffered another setback as they lost to Calicut Heroes 12-15, 12-15, 9-15, 15-14, 13-15.

In need of a win, the Torpedoes found their talisman in Pankaj Sharma and bounced back to beat Ahmedabad Defenders. With the 15-14, 15-13, 15-14, 14-15, 13-15 victory, they stayed in contention for the playoffs race.

In their final round robin game, however, Bengaluru Torpedoes lost to the Chennai Blitz 15-9, 12-15, 13-15, 9-15, 15-12, suffering a massive heartbreak as they failed to make it to the last four.

For the Torpedoes, Midhun Kumar was the standout player in the RuPay Prime Volleyball League Powered by A23 Season 1, becoming the only player in the season to make 40 digs with a success rate of 66.7%. Middle blocker Lavmeet Katariya, too, made a name for himself & earned plaudits for some outstanding performances.

Taking forward the learnings from the previous campaign, the Torpedoes are now looking forward to delivering a massive Season 2. They have retained star attacker Pankaj Sharma along with setter Vinayak Rokhade and B Midhun Kumar.

Furthermore, the franchise has acquired the services of Iranian attacker Alireza Abalooch and Colombian attacker Sebastian Giraldo in the international players draft to add more firepower to the squad. Amongst the Indian players, the Torpedoes have picked Sethu TR, Mujeeb MC, Jishnu PV, Ibin Jose, Nisam Muhammed A, Sudheer Shetty and Gokulnath in the RuPay Prime Volley Season 2 Player Auction.

Bengaluru Torpedoes will be desperate to put on a good show as they have their eyes set on the prize in the upcoming edition of RuPay Prime Volleyball League Powered by A23, starting February 4.

Bengaluru Torpedoes squad for PVL Season 2

Alireza Abalooch (I), Sebastian Giraldo (I), Sethu TR, Mujeeb MC, Jishnu PV, Ibin Jose, Nisam Muhammed A, Sudheer Shetty, Gokulnath, Pankaj Sharma (R), Vinayak Rokhade (R), B Midhun Kumar (R)

I = International ; R = Retained

Read more on the Prime Volleyball League website.