Wednesday, Aug 21, 2002
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Volleyball
By M.C. Raman
It was a grand finish for the home team that did not give any room for the visitors to come back. The encounter, which lasted about an hour, was one of the most interesting matches in the competition for the spirit with which both the teams fought. Though both the teams tried to out-spike the other, India Juniors had more firepower and block to stop the opponents. In his post-match press briefing the Thai coach, Apcihat said that both the teams had equal attack, but setter Kasi Viswanatha Raju's jump serve gave an edge to the Indian team and it demoralised the Thai players. The teams were running neck and neck and Kasi's powerful jump service suddenly pushed the home team's score further by two or three points. That made all the difference. As it happened in the first set itself, the Juniors gained in confidence and pressed home the advantage. The Juniors played a tight game. There was not much change in the side except a few substitutions now and then. Sivabalan and Nadarajan spiked steadily and left-arm attacker Mukesh Kumar was excellent. Every time when he rose to hit he fetched a point. He turned out to be a nightmare for the Thais right through. An elated India Juniors coach M.H Kumar said "We have beaten almost the same team during our recent Thai tour. Both Supachai and Wamchai were unstoppable at that time. They were bombarding us with powerful shots. But here my boys blocked them successfully. Kishore played well. Only the boys' service return was not up to the mark. The problem is we do not have such strong jump servers here to practice. Anyway we are trying our best to improve service return.'' This time around India Juniors played more combination attacks. Setter Kasi used the second tempo offence well, by bringing in blockers Kishore Kumar and Rahul later. Thailand's Sriphum Supachai was the one who troubled the Indian blockers, as his shots came like bullets. Once Kishore, in the back court, fell by taking a shot in his chest. Such was Supachai's power!. Songserm, Wanchai, Surachi and Yutthapol, however, found the going tough. They were not effective and Supachai carried the burden. In the first and third sets, the Juniors took a seven point lead and maintained it. But in the second set, it was a close battle with Thailand trailing by 21-22. At this stage, Sivabalan and Natarajan smashed well, though Wanchai was also attacking well with his tremendous jump. By combining so well, the Juniors brought back the memory of 1980 and 1995 Junior squads who not only won medals in the Asian junior championship, but also qualified for the World championship.
Myanmar puts it past Kazakhstan
In the other match, Kazakhstan for once started well with its steady block against Myanmar. Though Kazakhstan was ahead by five points in the first set, it failed to maintain the tempo and Myanmar won the match at 25-23, 25-12, 25-19. Kazakahstan has lost all its three matches so far, while it was Myanmar's first win in two encounters. Once again it was Ye Min Aung who led Myanmar's assault with his brilliant spiking. He was unstoppable. In fact, when he came out of the stadium, spectators who appreciated his game mobbed him. He has already become a hero. Kyaw Swar Win also lent good support in attack. The problem with the Kazakhs' defence was that it was too slow and too ineffective for fast attack. Myanmar, a young side, set up good pace and quickly wriggled out of a tight corner. Despite their tremendous height, Ignor, Denis, Alexeir and Konstantin were once again erratic in spiking. Their power could have demolished the opponents, but they had no control over the shots.
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