The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : India's dream turns into a nightmare

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 09, 2004

Sport

Sport - Volleyball

India's dream turns into a nightmare

By M.C. Raman

DOHA, SEPT. 8. India's hopes in the 12th Asian junior men's volleyball championship ended at the Khalifa complex here on Wednesday, as the team was unable to rise above mediocrity and lost to Japan 25-23, 25-27, 22-25, 12-25 in a crucial Pool `E' match.

Late on Tuesday, India had gone down to Qatar 18-25, 25-23, 26-28, 18-25. Having lost two matches and won one, India will now fight for the fifth to eighth positions.

It was a sad end for the team which landed here with dreams of clinching the title. The boys made far too many mistakes to make an impact in the competition. The defence was in disarray throughout and would have conceded at least 30 to 40 points to drop shots alone. So pathetic was the defence that the squad managed only with its attacks. Srikanth was steady, but Sanjay Kumar was not.

There was no bench strength for coach G.E. Sridharan to utilise and he perhaps depended too much on his Youth team players. After taking the first set, India was poised to take the next too when it led 24-23, but Rathish sent the ball out.

Solid defence

That was the opening Japan was looking for. Though it did not possess a strong attack, its defence as well as the serves were superb. The Japanese did not allow India to have a good first pass. Setter Kamaraj's poor form, the failure of Sanjay and the blockers Rathish and Dinesh affected the team badly.

Though the Indians enjoyed a height advantage, the Japanese were able to break through the net defence. Fukuzawa and Tokumaru were the main attackers, but the short Kunichika was the most devastating. Japan's backcourt defence was so strong that almost all the drop shots were retrieved.

Sanjay's finish gave India the first set. In the second, India conceded a five point lead but made it 23-all and went ahead 24-23 before losing. In the third set, Darshan came in for Kamaraj and his angular passes were well hit by Jitender as India bridged a six-point deficit.

By now, the Japanese spikers were on top. And the Indians caved in without a fight in the fourth set.

Second win for Iran

Iran recorded its second win in Pool `F', beating Oman 25-20, 25-16, 25-20. Its spiking was good with Solaimani leading the pack. Oman did not have the net defence to stop the Iranian attacks. With three losses, Oman took the last spot.

Late on Tuesday night, Japan defeated Australia 25-20, 25-23, 25-22 in Pool `E' while Korea beat Oman 23-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-14 in Pool `F'. Three-way ties are possible in both pools.

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