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Volleyball
By M. C. Raman
Myanmar's Tin Wing Aung smashes past Thailand's block, Leelapongprasut Weerasee in their Sivanthi Gold Cup volleyball championship encounter in Hyderabad on Wednesday — Photo: Mohd. Yousuf.
It was not just overconfidence, but the Seniors allowed things to drift and the real problem was whenever there were substitutions the home team had the tendency to lose its rhythm. When Sunil Kumar came for Subba Rao it was not bad. But when Raghuveer Singh entered as a substitute the team lost its momentum and slipped badly thanks to much confusion in retrieving, setting and attacking. It has happened before. And it happened again this time against the Kazakhs who were slow and ineffective in spiking. But on Wednesday, the Kazakh libero Raikov Alexandr's service and shot retrieving were excellent, particulary in the third set. When the Indians fumbled, the visitors began to assert. Alexei, Nickolai, Denis and Ignor showed vast improvement in their quick finish at the net and spiking. They wiped out the two-point lead by the Indians and began to consolidate their lead. During this period, Tom Joseph was unleashing his crosscourt smashes steadily and keeping the team in the race till 21-22. The Seniors then were under pressure for the first time, when Ignor, one of the main spikers, did the damage by putting his shots past the rival block neatly. For the first time he was steady in attack in this competition. Playing such a loose game against the Kazakhs was a bad approach. In fact, the visitors were emboldened by their success and began to fight hard in the fourth set too. Till 21-18 it was a tough going for the home team. Amir Singh was not in fine nick today and his service or attack did not have the usual sting. Even the Seniors' service was ordinary and it helped the Kazakhs to go for organised attack at times. However, in the fourth set, Rajesh's short ball tapping and Tom Joseph's well-angled shots helped the team to wrap up the match without further damage. Having won the first two sets fairly comfortably the Seniors had got into a tangle, but managed to wriggle out. Rajesh and Subba Rao defended sensibly as Joby Joseph and Tom Joseph led the assault from the front court. Libero Arun Jakhmola did a good job in the back court. However, the Seniors' coach Shyamsundar Rao was not happy with the performance. "I am very angry with the team. They played a bad game. The players were out of position. Amir's failure was the low point in the game.'' said the coach.
Myanmar stuns Thailand
Earlier, Myanmar, emerging from its long isolation, lifted its game to higher level as it combined smoothly to stop Thailand at 25-23, 25-13, 25-20. Myanmar's entry was accepted with scepticism. But Myanmar has made rapid strides in a short span. Recently the team beat the China junior team preparing for the coming Teheran Asian championship. Myanmar is serious about its game. The crowd is admiring this side, which is full of enthusiasm and vigour. Of course, Myanmar was immensely benefited by Supachai's indifferent form. As a counter-attacker he did not succeed. Myanmar's block was right on the dot. It hardly failed in defence. In fact, in the second set Myanmar collected seven block points. Neither Supachai nor Wanchai could break the rival net defence. Rigth from setter Ye Myint to Kyaw Soe Aung every Myanmar player did his part well in putting up double block and did not allow the Thai spikers to gain rhythm. As both the teams played fast and almost similar type of game, the spectators expected fireworks. But Myanmar was steady throughout and was in control most of the time. The problem with the Thailand team was if Supachai failed there was no spiker of his calibre to look to. Wanchai's spiking was vulnerable to double block executed with late jump. That was why Nay Lin Tun, who also spiked sharply on some occasions, Tin Wing Aung, Kyaw Swar Win, whose jump serve shook the rivals, combined well in net defence to shut out the rivals. Myanmar kept the pressure on the rival. Its strong jump serve, steady and effective block and quick counter-attack through that fantastic spiker Ye Min Aung, who has an incredible jump, and tight game did not give any room for the Thais to wriggle out. In the first set, Myanmar was maintaining a two or three point lead, but at 21-23 Supachai failed, hitting the ball into the net. That affected Thailand's morale further. It was near shut out for the Thais in the second set when every shot of theirs was challenged successfully at the net. Thailand was clearly wilting under pressure. As its coach pointed out before, Thailand did not have a good second line attack and that was its undoing. Myanmar also lacked a centre blocker and one or two tall players, still, it could bring the game under its control setting good pace with good control, not missing too many shots. It was a great show by a team, which had a low billing here when it was invited.
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