Tags:
Journalism of Courage
India’s dream run at the 12th Asian Men’s Volleyball Championship continues. As the spikers followed their wins over defending champions South Korea and Baharin with a 25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20 victory over Thailand today, they topped the group and are now just a win away from the last four spot.
On the eve of the crucial match against Japan, the Indians were creating a buzz at the Tianjin Sports Gymnasium. Talking to The Indian Express, the captain of the Indian team Amir Singh said, ‘‘Such has been our show here and specially the big win over South Korea that the Japanese coach called us the team to look out for in this tournament.’’ For a man who has donned the national colours for about an decade, this is a welcome change. ‘‘In the past we were considered a team which was just there to make the numbers. No one noticed when we took the court or made an exit.’’
|
India’s road ahead
|
||
|
Despite the eight teams left in the tournament, this isn’t the conventional quarter-final stage. Matches now will be played on the league basis in each of the group. But result of the preliminary group matches are carried forward. That means teams who have already played each other don’t clash again. Example: India next play Japan followed by the match against Iran. Since India has defeated South Korea, there won’t be a rematch. That means India just needs a win to qualify for the semi-finals. |
But this time, the five-set win over the Asian Games champions and holder South Korea in the opening match has changed it all. So can this team emulate the best-ever finish – a bronze medal in the Asian Games in 1986? Amir confesses that ‘‘it will be a tough task since we next play the speedy Japanese followed by the match against the ever improving Iranian team.’’
The skipper says that the best chance for the team would be to seal the issue against Japan since Iran could be tough. Incidentally, Iran defeated Japan in the group stage. So what’s the strategy for tomorrow’s game?
‘‘The Japanese are very fast. So we should serve well and try to break their rhythm. In case we hustle them in the initial period, we might be able to pull it off,’’ he says.
For things to work the Indians would be banking on stars who have displayed fine form in the tournament. Blocker Y Subba Rao, libero Manoj Kumar, attackers Raghuvir Singh, Avinish Yadav and universal Tom Joseph have been exceptional. Giving details about his attack, the skipper says, ‘‘Our tall players are capable of putting up a China wall. Subba Rao (6 feet, 10 inches) and Rajiv (6 feet, 8 inches) are proving to be hard nuts to crack.’’
But in Amir’s list of men who matter there is one name which prominently features after every sentence. Despite the repeated mention the Haryanvi is at pains to pronounce Hirsto Iliev – the Bulgarian coach. ‘‘He is one man who has brought this turnaround in Indian volleyball. He has joined us for the last five months and you can see the results,’’ he says. Iliev first took under him the under-19 Youth Team, followed by the under-23 Junior team and now senior squad.
Amir’s words do make sense when one considers the silver at the World Youth Cup and now this ray of hope from China. If India finish among the top four it would be another high for Indian volleyball and in case they reach the title round – which would mean World Cup qualification – that would be a giant leap.
