For the first time in the Hyderabad volleyball league history, a national team will be taking part.
The Arjuna Awardee and AP Vollegyball Association secretary, V. Ravikanth Reddy and a team of former players came up with the idea of fielding the Indian Youth team in the local league commencing at Amberpet Indoor Stadium next week. The team is preparing for the Asian championship slated to be held this month-end.
‘Fillip to the sport’
“This is with strategy of giving a fillip to the league, which has thrown up some of the finest players like Tilakam Gopal, Abdul Basith, Manoj Reddy, P. V. Ramana. It would also provide the match practice to the team ahead of the prestigious the World championship qualifying tournament” says Ravikanth.
In a way, Ravikanth admits that the standard of volleyball in the State had gone down considerably of late and there was a need for some drastic measures including hosting many more tournaments to lure the youngsters to the sport. “Everyone says Andhra Pradesh was a force to reckon with in the past. But, not many are willing to support us when we go to them to help us in reviving the sport in a big way,” he moans to a query.
“We hope that this will also mean people from the nearby residential localities will come and watch the matches as was the case in the past,” the APVA secretary says.
“We look at the league as an opportunity to get a feel of what are the areas of strength and also where we can improve. This is really good for us,” says Indian captain Ranveer.
