Date:11/07/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/07/11/stories/2003071103002100.htm

Sport - Volleyball

Indian boys on a high

By M.C. Raman

Suphanburi July 10. Where do we go from here? This must be the thought uppermost in the minds of those who have watched the Indian team's performance in the eighth World Youth (boys) volleyball championship.

The Indian system is not progress-oriented, because there are several hurdles at every point. The Indian Government had at first refused to clear more than the Chief coach and then relented to permit an assistant coach. There is no doctor. The Indian team is the only team that has not submitted the Medical form here. Teams like Brazil, Italy, Netherlands and Iran come to the World championship with 10 to 15 additional squad members like analysers, doctors, physiotherapists and video recorders.

From 1980 onwards India's volleyball fortunes have shown an upward swing. India assembled the best junior squad in 1980 with players like Cyril and Uday. That team progressed to fetch us the Asian Games bronze in 1986 at Seoul. After that, in 1993 Shyamsundar Rao assembled another superb junior squad, which qualified for the World championship. The team should have qualified for the senior World championship two years ago, but

missed a great opportunity.

The problem is with the players also. They lose direction and their motivation level goes down. "This is not the same junior squad I prepared," lamented Shyamsundar Rao once.

"Personally, I think we should be producing the best junior teams as we have so much depth. For that a lot of effort needs to be put in from all the State associations,'' said the Indian Chief coach G.E. Sridharan, who has spent six months with the team.

India takes on Puerto Rico on Friday. Not a big hurdle. But the winner of the Iran-Thailand encounter may be a tough opponent in the semifinals.

Russia belongs to a different class. It is vulnerable in some aspects of the game, as exposed by Iran, but is ruthless on the court. However, the Indian boys are not worried and they are ready to face any challenge now.

Srikanth and Sanjay can effectively don the role of the main spiker. Srikanth is hitting the long ball too superbly. That is an asset against the Europeans.

Sanjay, who is ranked among the top 10 spikers in the country, should maintain his consistency if India is to reach the final. Dinesh and Rathish have done a wonderful job both in block and short ball attack. Libero Kulwant is steady and sharp. Setter Kamaraj is a bit vulnerable in block because of his lack of height. Vikas Tomar has done well as second line attacker.

Meanwhile, The Volleyball Federation of India president, B. Sivanthi Adityan, who is attending the FIVB emergency meeting in Lausanne, has rung up to congratulate the team on its performance here.