The Hindu : India finishes second best

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 14, 2003

Sport

Sport - Volleyball

India finishes second best

By M.C. Raman

Suphanburi July 13. All dream runs have to come to an end. India's run in the eighth World Youth volleyball championship came to a stop without the team's dream of winning the gold medal being realised at the Silpha-archa stadium here on Sunday.

Brazil did not let go a second chance and lifted its game to wrap up the match against India at 25-22, 26-24, 25-19 in front of a crowd that had become accustomed to seeing India winning all the time.

Beating Brazil every time is not possible as it is the most popular game in the South American country and is one of the top nations in World volleyball. Yet the Indian boys played their hearts out. They had the first two sets under their control by taking five points lead, but amazingly it was Brazil that brought the pressure on the Indian side and the latter caved in.

The Indian defence's failure at crucial stages was the major reason for the team's defeat and Rithish and Dinesh did not click this time.

It could have been a start to finish domination for India but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Brazil did its homework well and it had men and machine to work out strategies. Whatever tactics India applied against Brazil in the group match were repeated by Brazil and India did not have the counter to stop them.

Brazil took a 4-1 lead in the first set and the team was bubbling with enthusiasm as it took India by surprise. But the Asian champion bounced back to surge to 11-6 and 16-14. Sanjay hit the ball well though Srikanth did not do much spiking.

Kamaraj, who later won the Best Setter award, had to run around to set the passes as Brazil was served strongly. Under pressure he set a couple of short balls that were blocked. Brazil turned the set around and went ahead by shutting out Sanjay.

Even in attack Brazil stood out as Machado brilliantly hit the ball across from close to the antenna. Thiago and Silmar, as second-line attackers, came up with some breathtaking shots that shattered the Indian defence.

Having lost the first set, India was under pressure but still managed to go ahead 18-14 and 22-20 in the second. But Brazil kept coming back by playing an Indian style of game. The Brazilians served down the line, hit long shots across the court and double-blocked brilliantly as India had done against the defending champion in the group match.

Though Sanjay Kumar lifted India's game, he also came in the line of Brazil block. Srikanth hardly

hit and even if he did so, it went awry. It was India's bad luck that its main attacker failed in the crucial match.

Even the short ball attack of Rithish and Dinesh was challenged strongly at the net and Brazil once

again turned the set and match in its way. Danilo's dipping serve gave Brazil the second set in which a couple of second referee's decisions went against India.

Down by two sets, the Asian champion was under tremendous pressure and there weren't many options for the Indian coach, G.E. Sridharan, as this team was the best combination he had, a combination that he did not want to disturb. Still he tried Ramphal for Vikas Tomar and the net defence continued to be shaky.

The Brazilian setter Everaldo also caused quite a lot of problems by dropping the ball now and then with tremendous accuracy. More than that the Brazilians were at the right place in block for the Indian players.

The Indians, who has shown an excellent positional play so far, were out of position most of the time on Sunday and libero Kulwant, who was doing so well in the back court till Saturday, was also out of position most of the time. Brazil was quite lucky in that respect.

India did not give up and took a 16-13 lead in the third set. But once again Machado, Silmar and Thiago spiked brilliantly to steer the team out of trouble. Silmar, in particular, was superb in hitting the away ball.

Brazil played sensibly in tough situations and a more tight game in the 20s. That matters most in modern volleyball.

Iran finished third, beating Czech Republic 25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 25-18, while the European No. 1, Russia, which was hustled by Thailand, managed to take the fifth spot with a 25-27, 25-19, 25-19, 25-21 victory. Puerto Rico came seventh after beating Australia 25-23, 26-24, 30-28.

Final placings: 1. Brazil, 2. India, 3. Iran, 4. Czech Republic, 5. Russia, 6. Thailand, 7. Puerto Rico and 8. Australia.

Special awards: Most Valuable Player: Soleymani (Iran); Best setter: Kamaraj (India); Best blocker: Danilo (Brazil); Best spiker: Donilov Roman (Russia); Best receiver: Mohammed Moslem (Iran); Best retriever: Edgar Hernandez (Puerto Rico).

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