| Colour2: | Dark Green |
| Colour1: | White |
| Founded: | 2023 |
| Captain: | Shubham Sheoran |
| League: | Premier Handball League |
| Owner: | Kankanala Sports Group |
| Season: | 2023 |
| Position: | 3rd |
| Telugu Talons | |
| Mgrtitle: | Head Coach |
| Manager: | Fernando Nunes |
| Fullname: | Telugu Talons |
The Telugu Talons are a professional Indian men's handball team that competes in the Premier Handball League. The Telugu Talons are the only team from South India in the league and finished the 2023 edition as semi-finalists.[1] The team is currently owned by the Kankanala Sports Group.[2]
The inaugural season of the Premier Handball League saw the participation of six franchises and was held in the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium from June 8 to June 25. The Telugu Talons got off to a winning start, winning their first two games against Garvit Gujarat and Golden Eagles UP.[3] [4] This was followed by two consecutive defeats against the Maharashtra Ironmen and the Delhi Panzers before they went on a 4-game win streak culminating in a second win against the Golden Eagles UP.[5] The Talons wrapped up their league stage campaign with a victory over Garvit Gujarat.[6]
The Telugu Talons secured their qualification to the semi-final in their debut season in the competition. They faced defeat in a tightly contested encounter, going down 4–3 in a penalty shootout against the Golden Eagles UP in the semi-final.[7]
Rahul TK was awarded the Golden Glove for his league-high 184 saves over the course of the tournament.[8]
| League Stage | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 8 | Telugu Talons | 39-32 | Garvit Gujarat | Telugu Talons | |
| June 9 | Golden Eagles UP | 38-40 | Telugu Talons | Telugu Talons | |
| June 11 | Maharashtra Ironmen | 30-26 | Telugu Talons | ||
| June 12 | Delhi Panzers | 29-27 | Telugu Talons | Delhi Panzers | |
| June 14 | Rajasthan Patriots | 24-28 | Telugu Talons | Telugu Talons | |
| June 15 | Telugu Talons | 26-23 | Delhi Panzers | Telugu Talons | |
| June 17 | Telugu Talons | 33-22 | Rajasthan Patriots | Telugu Talons | |
| June 18 | Telugu Talons | 26-25 | Golden Eagles UP | Telugu Talons | |
| June 20 | Telugu Talons | 30-30 | Maharashtra Ironmen | Match Drawn | |
| June 21 | Garvit Gujarat | 28-36 | Telugu Talons | Telugu Talons | |
| Semi-Final | |||||
| June 24 | Telugu Talons | 40-40 (3–4) | Golden Eagles UP | Golden Eagles UP (won on penalties) | |
| 1 | Maharashtra Ironmen | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 15 | |
| 2 | Telugu Talons | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 15 | |
| 3 | Rajasthan Patriots | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 14 | |
| 4 | Golden Eagles UP | 10 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 7 | |
| 5 | Delhi Panzers | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 6 | |
| 6 | Garvit Gujarat | 10 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 3 |
| Naseeb Singh | 113 | 78 | 69% | 35 | 26 | 4 | 7 |
| Kailash Patel | 87 | 68 | 78% | 16 | 16 | 3 | 7 |
| Davinder Bhullar | 102 | 58 | 57% | 1 | 0 | 7 | 37 |
| Anil Khudia | 83 | 38 | 46% | 1 | 1 | 4 | 66 |
| Mohit Kumar | 52 | 28 | 54% | 0 | 0 | 3 | 16 |
| Rahul Nain | 29 | 22 | 76% | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Raghu Kumara | 26 | 15 | 58% | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Vishal Hadia | 32 | 15 | 47% | 0 | 0 | 4 | 18 |
| Shubham Sheoran | 25 | 11 | 44% | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| Ajay Moyal | 9 | 6 | 67% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Chirag Chandel | 13 | 6 | 46% | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mohit Yadav | 6 | 3 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Iaroslav Shabanov | 7 | 2 | 29% | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Rey Joshua Tabuzo | 2 | 1 | 50% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Goalkeepers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player Name | Total Saves | Save Efficiency | Penalty Save | Penalty Save Efficiency | Assists | colspan="2" rowspan="4" | - |
| Rahul T K | 184 | 40% | 4 | 13% | 5 | ||
| Andrei Nedbailo | 10 | 23% | 6 | 27% | 0 | ||
| Sombir | 0 | 0% | 0 | 0% | 0 | ||
| Total Team Goals | 351 | Third | |
| Total Team Saves | 195 | Third | |
| Penalty Goals | 45 | First | |
| Wing Goals | 71 | Second | |
| FastBreak Goals | 24 | Second | |
| Breakthrough Goals | 37 | First | |
| Shot Efficiency | 60% | First | |
| Penalty Shot Efficiency | 79% | Third | |
| Penalty Saves | 10 | Fourth | |
| Save Efficiency | 33% | First | |
| Total Steals | 34 | Second |
The Telugu Talons announced a sponsorship agreement with A23, an online multi-gaming platform ahead of the start of the Premier Handball League 2023 season. A23 served as the main title sponsor for 2023 season.[10] Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University was announced as the training partner for the season and also hosted the official jersey launch of the Telugu Talons.[11]
Paradise, Ethames, Malla Reddy, Oxyloans and Prakash Projects were announced as associate sponsors for the season. Mirchi FM served as the official entertainment partner and Whizzy was named the official delivery partner of the Telugu Talons.
| 1 | A23 | Title Sponsor | |
| 2 | Paradise | Associate Sponsor | |
| 3 | Ethames | Associate Sponsor | |
| 4 | Malla Reddy | Associate Sponsor | |
| 5 | Oxyloans | Associate Sponsor | |
| 6 | Prakash Projects | Associate Sponsor | |
| 7 | Mirchi FM | Entertainment Partner | |
| 8 | JNTU | Training Partner | |
| 9 | Whizzy | Delivery Partner |
Premier Handball League, 2023
| 1 | Andrei Nedbailo | Goalkeeper | ||
| 2 | Iaroslav Shabanov | Left back | ||
| 3 | Rey Joshua Tabuzo | Right back | ||
| 4 | Naseeb Singh | Right wing | ||
| 5 | Anil Khudia | Centre back | ||
| 6 | Shubham Sheoran | Left back | ||
| 7 | Kailash Patel | Left wing | ||
| 8 | Rahul T K | Goalkeeper | ||
| 9 | Raghu Kumara | Pivot | ||
| 10 | Mohit Kumar | Right back | ||
| 11 | Chirag Chandel | Right wing | ||
| 12 | Vishal Hadia | Right back | ||
| 13 | Mohit Yadav | Left wing | ||
| 14 | Davinder Bhullar | Left back | ||
| 15 | Ajay Moyal | Centre back | ||
| 16 | Sombir | Goalkeeper | ||
| 17 | Rahul Nain | Pivot |
| Owner | Kankanala Sports Group | |
| Head Coach | Fernando Nunes | |
| Assistant Coach | Sachin Kumar Bhardwaj |