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Volleyball
By M.C. Raman
India's stumble can be traced to its inability to cope with pressure at this level. The players were tense and there was no flow in their game. The Indians also failed completely in block. Neither the centre blocker Kishore nor Dinesh could shore up the defence. Still the team surged ahead to be 18-16. Setter Kasi prompted the attack and India put Germany under pressure. However, some bad decisions went against India and one could not understand the logic of putting an Asian from Iran as the second referee. India suffered because of him. The Germans used their height to advantage and kept pushing the ball back into the Indian court. Germany's game depended on Schops Jochen, its frontline attacker, who was in good touch. The second line attacker, Elsner Tim, also did well. The tallest German, Kromm Robert at 212 cm, caused great trouble with his sharp spiking. Even his drops were effective as the Indian blockers were clumsy and slow in pushing them back. It was a pathetic show by India offering 19 error points to the rival's 15. Nadrajan was the most effective spiker. Sanjay did well in the first set, but taking him away was a big mistake. By the time setter Kamaraj and Sanjay came back the team was in a bad shape. Unfortunately, India is playing in the most cramped indoor stadium built during the Shah of Iran's days. The German coach Michael Warm was furious, as the organisers did not allow his team to practise inside the stadium before the match. "Perhaps, India suffered more than us because of these cramped conditions,'' said Warm at the post match press briefing. "We played 19 matches against Brazil, Bulgaria, Tunisia, Yugoslavia and Italy after the European championship. Actually, we were nervous before the match," said the German coach. "India is capable of playing a much better game. I was surprised by its collapse,'' he added. Indian team coach M.H. Kumara attributed the defeat to pressure and the failure of block. He brought in Srikanth later, but he was blocked out completely. Libero Arun Jakhmola missed too many block rebounds in the backcourt. Rahul and Shivabalan were tried later, but the team as a whole failed. India can still come back if it does well against Russia and China. It was a bad day for the Asian teams as a whole. Russia overpowered China 25-17, 25-17, 25-18 in another Pool B tie. It was a towering performance by the Russians. Yuriy Borzehko and Kruglov Pavel gave a head start to the former champion. Achechev Andrei and Lanoutov Alexandre did not allow the Chinese to have a free run at the net, doing a brilliant job with their double block. China found the rival net defence too strong. The tall Guo Song was blocked out. However, left-arm spiker Sun Quan was effective later in the match. But China did not have the clever setting to beat the rival defence. At the main stadium, Canada got the better of Tunisia 25-12, 25-21, 22-25, 25-12 in a Pool C encounter. Serbia and Montenegro (Yugoslavia) played a great game against European champion Italy recording the first shock of the tournament at 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 26-24 in a Pool D match. The results: Pool B: Germany bt India 25-23, 25-15, 25-13; Russia bt China 25-17, 25-17, 25-18. Pool C: Canada bt Tunisia 25-12, 5-21, 22-25, 25-12. Pool D: Serbia (Yugolsavia) bt Italy 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 26-24.
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