PKL 2023: Who is the owner of Bengal Warriors?
Bengal Warriors are owned by Capri Sports, a sports and recreation company. They are one among 12 teams contesting in the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League (PKL).
The Bengal Warriors are led by star raider Maninder Singh and coached by the seasoned Kasinathan Baskaran. Their home games this season are set to be held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.
Bengal Warriors owner, Capri Sports, is a venture launched by Capri Global with an aim to make essential resources available to Indian athletes to empower them. Apart from the Pro Kabaddi team, Capri Sports is also associated with three other franchises in various sports.
These are the UP Warriorz in the Women's Premier League (WPL), the Sharjah Warriors in the ILT20 and the Rajasthan Warriors in the Ultimate Kho Kho League.
Jinisha Sharma is the director of Capri Sports, and the team is also co-owned by global icon and Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar.
Capri Sports is focused on providing comprehensive sports programs, mentorship and infrastructure development to cater to the requirements of the youth.
It's working extensively at the grassroots level to nurture young talent by providing them with opportunities and exposure and to contribute to the growth of sport in India. The company's primary aim is to create an impact in the Indian sporting ecosystem.
Capri Sports recently roped in Apurv Gupta and Chandan Roy as the senior vice president - contact sports and vice-president, marketing, respectively.
Gupta previously played a crucial role in the inauguration of the Pro Kabaddi League with Mashal Sports. Roy had a stint with Star Sports as head of sponsorship marketing for the Emerging Sports portfolio in Football (ISL, Premier League), F1 and Grand Slams (Indian Market).
Bengal Warriors in PKL
The Kolkata-based franchise has been a part of Pro Kabaddi since the first edition in 2014.
They did not have a promising start, finishing seventh in the points table in season 1. After finishing sixth in season 2, they made their first-ever playoffs appearance in season 3, finishing fourth on the points table. However, they lost the semi-final to U Mumba.
Failing to qualify in season 4, the Bengal Warriors made yet another comeback in season 5, finishing as table toppers in Group B. They went on to lose the second qualifier to Patna Pirates. Moreover, they lost the eliminator to Dabang Delhi in season 6.
The Bengal Warriors finally laid their hands on the PKL trophy in season 7, where they beat Dabang Delhi, but they failed to qualify for the playoffs in seasons 8 and 9.