Big lessons from Berlin
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Though the Indian volleyball team faced a severe defeat in the Olympic qualifiers held in Berlin, the players have high hopes about the future of the game in the country. India qualified for the first time in Olympic qualifiers and was grouped among high-ranked European teams.
“We were playing against the European teams for the first time. It was a great experience. The team played their level best in the matches.
But we were against the top European teams that are ranked the best in the word. So we took our own shortcuts,” says veteran national player Tom Joseph.
“The game is entirely different to the one played by the Asian teams. To compete against European teams, we need a lot more match exposure.
Their techniques are very developed and they play a game that is a combination of power and speed. It took us some time to understand their play,” he says.
Though India crashed out of the tournament without even winning a set, India bagged silver in the tournament.
An Indian setter was ranked first among the setter rankings in the championship. Keralite and long-time Indian setter Kapil Dev says, “It was a tough tournament.
With zilch exposure to this type of game, we were able to at least fight in the last two sets of every match. It took time to understand the power game the Europeans played,” he said.
India were up against the Czech Republic, who were ranked 23, hosts Germany ranked 13, and Cuba, which was ranked at number 8.
“With this tournament, we understood that we have been alienated from volleyball happening in this part of the world.
There should be more matches against the European teams as only then will be able to learn their game.
Only the top teams in Asia are able to take part in the country-wise tournaments held in Europe. However, talent wise, India is on par with the other teams. We only lack exposure,” says Kapil Dev.
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