IVL third leg from today

RARING TO GO: Yanam Tigers team led by P.S. Sreekanth (right) practising on the eve of the third leg of the Indian Volley League in Yanam on Saturday. Photo: K.R. Deepak

The Indian Volley League moves into the third leg. The same intensity and competition that marked the last two phases at Bangalore and Chennai are sure to continue in the third leg which commences at the Dr. Y.S.R. International Indoor stadium in the Puducherry Union Territory enclave on Sunday.

That set quotient, of little variation, decided the teams' placings after the first two phases after the teams fought neck and neck indicates the keen contest in the league which was started by the Volleyball Federation of India to bring in professionalism into the game and there by improve the game's overall standard.

Chennai Spikers, which won the second leg in Chennai beating Maratha Warriors, after two phases with a set quotient of 1.43 to 1.111, after both teams earned 16 points. Yanam Tigers and Hyderabad Chargers tied for the third place and the former is ahead with a set quotient of 1.111 to 1.00. Kerala Killers and Karnataka Bulls earned 14 points each, the former's quotient of 0.86 to the latter's 0.65 placed it in the fifth place.

All teams are in good shape and the local organisers say the event would see full house every day.

Coordinator of IVL and Indian coach G.E. Sridharan is elated over the performance of the teams.

“The players are giving more than 100 per cent and some young and talented players like Kartik of Chennai, Oma Beer Mann of Varanasi and Louhumit Kataria of Rajasthan, who have no strong team to play with, are performing excellently. Seniors such as Kapil Dev, Subba Rao and Tom Joseph are doing well,” said Sridharan.

He expects a great benefit to the game in the country through IVL. The performance had reached a new high and this would certainly help India to go up the ladder in international scene, Sridharan said.

By starring IVL, India became the 24th country in the world to have a professional volleyball league, he said. This year the teams were made up through draw of lots and the process might be through bidding next year like in the Indian Premier League.

The team strength was likely to go up to 15 or 18, including two foreign players, from the present 12, from next year.

There are some areas to be taken care of in IVL like time spent on travelling from one place to another, insufficient rest time, need to have more recovery time, etc., the coordinator said.