To China, with Hope

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Indian women volleyball players will fly to China next month to take part in the world championship final qualifiers and it will go down as one of the most important outings for women's volleyball in the country.
It will be the first time the team will take part in the final stage of the world championship qualifying round, thanks to their fantastic win against Uzbekistan, 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 2523) in June.
“The win was a major one. I am happy that the girls will get some real action. We will take on top teams from Asia for the first time in the tourney. We are all excited,“ says Meena Mahalingam, head coach of the national team.
They will come up against China, Korea, Kazakhstan and New Zealand. The one-week tournament will start from September 26.
Admitting the tourna ment may prove to be a difficult task for the Indian team, she points out, “The top two teams will qualify for the World Championship 2014. While it would be a major challenge to qualify, we would be trying to defeat Kazakhstan and New Zealand at least. Defeating China and Korea is unthink able considering our present standard.“
It is the exposure that will be valuable, she explains. “We need to improve our defence a lot. Considering that other teams have players above six feet, blocking will be crucial. Our training sessions are aimed at improving reception and blocking,“ she says.
India will also take part in the Asian Championship to be held in Thailand from September 13 to 21. “We will face China, Iran and Philippines in the ranking tournament. At present, of the 16 teams, we are ranked in the 10th position and our aim is to at least reach sixth position,“ she says.
“Height is a major problem for us and it is because of that we are finding it difficult in international championships.However, the recent triumph of the youth girls in the Asian Youth Championship, in which they received sixth rank, is an encouragement,“ she points out.