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Volleyball
A keen competition is in store
By M. C. Raman
PAYYANUR, FEB. 2. The Volleyball Federation of India is still confused about how it should conduct the prestigious Federation Cup tournament to be held at the Jimmy George Stadium at the Govt. Boys HS grounds. The introduction of the National league has further diluted the importance of this major competition and the Cup's format keeps changing.
The Federation Cup was introduced in 1979 exclusively for the Clubs. But lack of strong institutional teams and the strong pressure on the VFI to make it an event for the State outfits forced the Federation to change the format the next year itself. Again in 1989 a strong club lobby within the VFI had its say in the general body meeting and the old format was reintroduced in 1990 at Triprayar.
Hindustan Photo Films, Kerala Police, Punjab Police, Titanium, Southern Railway, Cochin Port Trust and Indian Overseas Bank stood out in this period, making the competition lively through out.
Now the Cup again takes the tag of `Mini National' as the leading eight State sides will fight it out for the top honours in the men's section. The National league is going to be for the Clubs from this year. As the Department Nationals too is gaining importance the Clubs have more events to show their skills now.
There are obvious reasons for the frequent changes. The VFI is trying hard to rope in sponsors. When that is settled perhaps the Federation will be in a better position to streamline all the major competitions. It is better if the VFI sticks to one format for each event.
However, the Cup is a boon to those who have failed in the last National championship a month ago. Kerala, the defending champion, came down crashing at Raipur. Here, backed by the vociferous home crowd, the home team should be one of the strong contenders for the title.
Tamil Nadu, whipped by the rejuvenated Railways in the National final, will have another chance to prove its strength. Much depends on its block.
A full Punjab team is not possible now as Amir Singh has gone to Haryana. Still the team, like the Services and Karnataka, can be a big hurdle to the strong contenders.
Railways, of course, is a better equipped side as it showed at Raipur. It put up a highly spirited display there. But it is always difficult to repeat a match-winning performance. Its defence should be as good as it was in the capital of Chhattisgarh.
Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are the teams to be watched as they have already sounded their arrival in the elite group.
In the women's competition, the Railways has bounced back to take the No. 1 spot. And here it may stamp its authority again and Kerala has to work hard to make an impact.
The groupings:
Men:
Group `A': Railways, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala. Group `B': Tamil Nadu, Services, Haryana, Punjab.
Women
Group `A': Railways, Karnataka, Chandigarh. Group `B': Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Bengal.
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