The Hindu : Sport : India needs to be on its toes

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 01, 2005

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India needs to be on its toes

M.C. Raman

WARMING UP: Korean team members get into shape on the eve of their encounter against Australia in the World Championship qualifiers. — Photo: Vino John

Chennai: India let slip a golden opportunity in the first phase of the World senior men' volleyball championship qualifier last Sunday. China won the event and entered the main event as the third Asian team after Kazakhstan and Iran.

India can now make amends in the the second phase starting at the SDAT multipurpose indoor stadium on Friday with a tie between Korea and Australia.

The winner here will get the Hyundai Cup and the runner-up the IOB Cup and they will complete the total of five qualifiers.

India's chief coach, G.E. Sridharan, said that the team was concentrating on service reception and jump serve during practice and felt that the players should do better.

He felt that China's extraordinary jump service to take five points in a row was a freak. "Even after calling time-out they served brilliantly. In my 40 years of volleyball career I have never seen such a feat," he said.

Qualification was not beyond India's reach, but it floundered because of various mistakes, starting with its preparation for the first phase.

The Volleyball Federation of India was till recently expecting Brazilian, Oliveira, to take over and that could have delayed preparations.

Problems persist

VFI's problem of choosing a team for an international competition persists. It always vacillates between a full junior squad, which has performed well at the World championship, or opting for a mixed team.

China was quick in dismantling its old side and is now aiming to improve on its 15th position at the Tokyo World championship (2006) or at the Beijing Olympics (2008). When a goal is set it is easy to move forward.

The VFI's aim of a slot in the World championship is difficult considering that India, at 26, falls below the cut off mark of 24. Asia has got five places, excluding Japan. So the Federation has done well to seize the chance. But the priorities have gone haywire. The National championship is the yardstick for some, but they have not maintained their physical fitness.

Dronacharya awardee Ramana Rao has been insisting that players invited for the camp must maintain their fitness when they go back. The coach's duty is to work out various team combinations at camps and not reduction in players' weight.

At least three or four players in the Indian team may not make it to the World event if India qualifies. So why not try out some youngsters?

The young and aggressive China exposed the physical inadequacy of the home team.

Another problem was inadequate match practice. This happened to the Indian juniors in the Doha Asian championship. Though they played in different competitions they did not come together for a trip abroad. That led to its bad performance, failing to qualify for the second stage.

Fortunately, India is hosting the World junior (men) championship at Visakhapatnam and it has another chance to prove its mettle. The same fate has befallen India seniors too.

Though the VFI wants the Indian teams to play in Europe, the Europeans demand one year advance notice for training. VFI, however, uses its influence through the European coaches and referees who visit the FIVB Development Centre here for clinics, and sometimes succeeds. But exposure abroad is a must before any major Asian or World event.

Revamped side

Take Korea, which landed here on Wednesday, for the second phase. India made a great start in the last Asian championship near Beijing, beating holder Korea in the opener a year ago.

But Korea is a revamped side now and only five players from that squad — Young-Min Kwon, Oh-Hyun Yeo, Sun-Ho Shin, Kyung-Soo Lee, Sun-Kyu Lee — have been retained.

The Korean coach Gong attributed his team's loss to Kazakhstan in the first phase final in Kazakhstan to bad officiating and wants to succeed here.

Korea's record is also enviable. It has been in seven main World championships, seven World Cups, eight Olympics and seven World Leagues, and also won the Asian championship four times since 1979.

It has remained in the first three positions all the time, except in 1997 when it finished fifth at Doha. So India must be on its toes if it wants to topple Korea again.

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