Sport - Volleyball   

India takes on Poland

By M.C. Raman

Suphanburi (Thailand) July 4. When the ninth World Youth (boys) championship gets underway at the Silapa-archa Gymnasium here on Saturday, India steps into another realm of world volleyball that is totally different from the Asian scene. As the Indian Head coach G.E. Sridharan put it during the press briefing this afternoon that the Asian victory was different, and this one is going to be a tougher and demanding one for him and his team.

This is where the beginning of the future teams of leading countries commences. So all the frontline nations in world volleyball show keen interest in assembling the best in their places and expose them to hard competitions.

"In another five years the Indian senior team should qualify for the World championship and we must be somebody in world volleyball. This is our aim. Under the VFI President Sivanthi Adityan's patronage, we have achieved so many things. But this is going to be the ultimate goal,'' said K. Murugan, Secretary, VFI, before the departure of the team.

After winning the Asian Youth title for the first time beating Iran, which came runner-up last time in this World championship, India's stock has gone high.

Even Brazil's coach, whose team has won five times, hinted at the press meet that he expected strong challenge from Russia, The Netherlands, India and Slovakia.

India is in the Group of Death (Pool C) along with Brazil, Poland and Czech Republic. Barring India, all the other countries are figuring in the current men's $ 15 million World League.

Anything can happen here, as the Iran coach put it during the press meet: "no country can maintain a standard team because players quickly move away from this category. Unless we see the teams in action it is difficult for us to say anything now."

From the inaugural year (1989) onwards Brazil was winning the title and it is one of the favourites here. Italy captured the title in 1997 at Teheran and Russia took the top honours in 1999 at Riyadh in 1999. In 2001 at Cairo, Brazil bounced back to win the No. 1 spot, pushing Iran to second place and Russia to third.

Brazil is the team to beat, as the South American nation always prepares good junior outfits. Russia and The Netherlands too, with their towering players, can be a big threat to any side here.

In fact, there are some changes in the participation of teams since the completion of continental tournaments.

Russia, Poland, Italy, Germany, Czech Republic, The Netherlands and Slovakia finished in that order in the European championship. Since Germany did not come, Slovakia has got a break.

Similarly, India, Iran and DPK Korea completed in that order in the Asian championship. As DPK Korea was dropped because its coach threatened the referee during the Asian tournament, China has been permitted to take part here.

In South America, Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina secured the first three positions in that order. As Argentina backed out, Australia has been considered, though it finished sixth in the Asian championship.

Aussie coach Russell said he was surprised to get the invitation. Thailand grabbed the fifth position in Asian tournament, but it has been included as the host. This has helped the Aussies.

However, there is no change from the African continent. Both Egypt and Morocco are participating. Only one team, Puerto Rico, from North America.

The Indian team is looking forward to a good show here on its debut. It takes on Poland on July 5, Brazil on July 6 and Czech Republic on July 7. There is a break on July 8, and then the next phase starts. There is another break on July 10, and then the quarterfinals start. The final is on July 13.

The groupings: Pool A: Thailand, Venezuela, Australia, Puerto Rico; Pool B: Slovakia, Egypt, Russia, China; Pool C: Poland, Czech Republic, Brazil, India; Pool D: Italy, Morocco, Iran, Netherlands.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

Cricket

• Kallis in ominous form
• No unilateral action by BCCI against GCC
• Habibul Bashar misses century
• Lara is smiling again
• India `A' beats Nottinghamshire
  
  Tennis
  
• It's a Philippoussis vs Federer final
• Facts point to Serena but the heart says Venus
• Small is the call
  
  Badminton
  
• Bahniman Bora retains under-19 title
• Indian squad for World tourney
  
  Basketball
  
• Indian team confident despite Shabbir's injury
  
  Chess
  
• Eesha is an IWM
  
  Squash
  
• Priyanka to fight it out with Mekhala
  
  Volleyball
  
• India takes on Poland
  
  Shooting
  
• Jaspal makes it to air pistol final
  
  

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu