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Volleyball
By M.C. Raman
India won all its three matches in the group and became No. 1, defeating the two European nations, Poland and Czech and beating the defending champion Brazil. From start to finish the team did not show any sign of nervousness. The Indian boys were so confident that they kept coming back even under pressure. It was this self-confidence that won India the Asian title and now this series of victories against the best in the world. The Czech coach Juda Petr shook his head expressing his helplessness against a superior side. "Technically it is a superior side. Honestly we were prepared for this match and we don't have the excuse of Poland. The climate was not that bad and I have no excuse." He said his team had made a lot of technical mistakes, like service reception and block. He rated the Indian attack as the best and technically too hot to handle. The Indian coach G.E. Sridharan was more modest. "I will attribute the success to superb block by the boys. It was more than what I had imagined. Today libero Kulwant was excellent in service reception. And setter Kamaraj was superb in setting. It was a near flawless show. It was because of that we could launch attack. The European teams are unpredictable. I told the boys before the match to thrash the opponents or go down fighting. So the team had to be on high alert and they seized all the opportunities,'' he said. In the first two sets, India broke away midway through to stretch the lead to five or six points. That gave them tremendous confidence. Czech's attack had never been at its best. Hrazdira Michel made more attempts but scored only 10 spikes. But substitute Mouch Jiri and Vesely caused trouble in the third set and the Indian team was slightly under pressure during this period as Czech led 8-7. But Srikanth and Sanjay Kumar began to smash brilliantly. When India stretched its lead to 21-13 in the third set, the European No. 6 squad gave up. Rathish hit the short ball well and blocked perfectly. India conceded only 10 points through errors than Czech's 25. Such was the control India had right through. Dinesh Kumar and Vikas Tomas also lent hand in attack as second line attackers. Iran too showed its class when it lowered the colours of Italy 25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 25-19 and topped Pool D. It also won all its three matches in the group. Like India, Iran made less mistakes as it offered only 19 points against Italy's 34, mostly in service. It was Soleymani who led the attack scoring 33 spikes in 63 attempts. Sadeghiany and Saslehi did well as second line attackers. But Italy failed badly in attack as Rosso Mattia scored only 14 points in 31 attempts. Though Italy did better in block its failure in attack cost the team the match. Iran, the Netherlands, Italy and Morocco finished in that order in Pool D and Morocco crashed out of the tournament without a win. India will take on Iran on July 9. Tomorrow is a rest day. ``If we beat Iran we will move into easy group with teams such as Australia and others. But if India loses on July 9 then we will have to face some tough teams in the subsequent round,'' said the Indian coach.
Australia beats Thailand
Australia, which played two five setters and won, today defeated the host Thailand 25-21, 25-20, 25-18 and topped Pool A. It was an excellent show, considering the fact that the team finished sixth in the Asian championship and lost to Thailand in straight sets. Australia, Puerto Rico, Thailand and Venezuela finished in that order in Pool A and Venezuela leaves as a winless team. China's five-set victory over Egypt put the Asian squad in the second position in Pool B. Egypt finished third with one win and the winless Slovakia will be out of the championship. Russia finished on top and Slovakia fourth. India tops Pool C followed by Brazil, Czech Republic and Poland. The results: Pool A: Australia bt Thailand 25-21, 25-20, 25-18; Puerto Rico bt Venezuela 20-25, 25-23, 25-21, 25-23. Pool B: China bt Slovakia 25-21, 25-21, 15-25, 23-25, 15-10; Russia bt Slovakia 28-26, 25-18, 25-17. Pool C: India bt Czech Republic 25-20, 25-15, 25-17; Brazil bt Poland 21-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-19. Pool D: Iran bt Italy 25-22, 24-26, 25-21, 25-19; Netherlands bt Morocco 25-20, 25-21, 25-21.
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