The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : A puzzling format

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 05, 2005

Sport

Sport - Volleyball

A puzzling format

M.C. Raman

Visakhapatnam: The change of format for the 13th World junior (under- 21) men's volleyball championship is quite puzzling. There used to be 16 teams for this event. But now there are only 12 squads, including host India.

Six teams each in two groups is quite a daunting task for any side to aim for the second stage and there are too many hurdles to cross. Surely it is not going to be a good format for the host side.

The event also offers a lot of surprises. Defending champion Poland could not make the championship this time. In fact, this was one World-level event that Brazil lost in recent years. Third-placed Bulgaria is also not here.

Serbia and Montenegro, Russia, Germany and the Netherlands are from Europe, a low representation for a `big' volleyball continent.

The Union Home Minister, Shivraj Patil, will inaugurate the event tomorrow. The function will be attended by the State Chief Minister, Y.S. Raja Sekhara Reddy, VFI President, Sivanthi Adityan, and FIVB Vice-President, Cristobal Marte Haffiz. The competition commences on August 6.

The organisers heaved a collective sigh of relief as all the 12 teams in the fray arrived here today.

The groupings: Pool A: Serbia and Montenegro, India, Cuba, Russia,

Morocco, Korea. Pool B: Iran, Tunisia, USA, Netherlands, Brazil, Germany.

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