New Delhi [India], January 18 (ANI): The Premier Handball League (PHL) on Tuesday announced Maharashtra Ironmen as the fourth team for the much-awaited inaugural edition of the franchise-based league.

Maharashtra Ironmen will be among the six teams to feature in the inaugural edition of the PHL, slated to take place later this year. The three teams which are already been named are Garvit Gujarat, Golden Eagles Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan Wolverines.

Season 1 the League will take place later this year. The team from Maharashtra is owned by Punit Balan of the Punit Balan Group.

"Handball is one of the most exciting games with a unique combination of speed, agility, technique, skill and teamwork and enjoys a great following in the western market. I believe that if promoted and supported well, it will enjoy the same popularity in the Indian market as well. Additionally, being an Olympic sport with a majority of the players coming from the armed services, Handball becomes a natural choice for our group. Through PHL, we will look to transform this new-age sport," said Punit in a statement.

Through this partnership we are keen to create the right amount of entertainment so as to make the sport of Handball a household sport. We believe in supporting the current and upcoming talent and our focus will be to unearth promising handball players from the region and nurture them so that they become the face of the sport in times to come," he added.

India has been earmarked as the next big destination for Handball by The International Handball Federation. With 14 players per team, the Premier Handball League (PHL) is all set to revolutionize the way the game is played in India. The League is exclusively licensed to Bluesport Entertainment under the aegis of the Handball Federation of India (HFI) and the Flagship Season is all set to launch later this year with 6 franchise teams representing 6 states of India. (ANI)