The Hindu : Sport / Volleyball : National championships from today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jan 10, 2006

Sport

Sport - Volleyball

National championships from today

M.C. Raman

Pune: If 2005 turned out to be a hectic and mixed year for Indian volleyball, 2006 is also going to be an eventful one. The National men's team finished fourth in the last Asian championship for the first time and qualified for the Asian Games to be held in Doha this year.

That India could not qualify for the 2006 World men's championship in Japan was a disaster. Despite the Volleyball Federation of India's earnest attempt, the national men's squad failed against China and then against Korea and Australia in Chennai last year. This setback rankled the VFI officials, but the Indian team, with some minor changes, performed remarkably in Thailand when it almost broke into the top three.

Coach optimistic

The National coach, G.E. Sridharan, wants the team to bag the Asian Games gold. "It is not a difficult task. But the players have to be motivated further to achieve the goal,' said Sridharan. Even a top Japanese coach who conducted a clinic at the FIVB Centre in Chennai acknowledged the fact that India's stocks had soared high in recent years and China, Japan and Korea were watching the country's progress with awe.

Against this background the 54th senior National championship first phase is commencing here on Tuesday. There are some positive developments in the domestic front too. In the last four years the men's title was won by different teams. Haryana in 2005, Services in 2004, Uttaranchal in 2003 and Kerala in 2002 and 2001 have made the championship highly competitive. Tamil Nadu, which was runner-up and remained in the top four, was forced to fight in the preliminary league this year. Karnataka, Uttaranchal and Andhra, apart from Punjab, have to battle it out with the lowly teams to go up into the elite group.

Two phases

Introduction of two phases, the second being the elite one, has its own benefits. It reduces the financial burden of the organisers hosting about 40 teams. And the second phase is to be shifted to an indoor venue as it was in Chennai last year.

Even in the women's section Kerala ended the monopoly of Railways last year. In fact, after a long stint Railways lost its leading position only twice in the last five years. It lost to Andhra in 2001 and to Kerala last year.

The groupings:

Men: Phase I: Gr. A: Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Orissa, Pondicherry, Andaman; Gr. B: Andhra, Punjab, HP, Bengal, Goa, Assam; Gr. C: Tamil Nadu, UP, MP, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Chandigarh; Gr. D: Karnataka, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, J & K, Bihar; Phase II: Gr. X: Haryana, Services, B1, C1; Gr. Y: Railways, Kerala, A1, D1.

Women: Phase I: Gr. A: Karnataka, Haryana, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, MP; Gr. B: Chandigarh, HP, Bihar, Goa, Pondicherry; Gr. C: Bengal, Punjab, J & K, Gujarat, Uttaranchal; Gr. D: UP, Delhi, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam. Phase II: Gr. X: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, B1, C1; Gr. Y: Railways, Andhra, A1, D1.