Indians begin campaign in style
 Visakhapatnam,
India, August 6, 2005 - Host nation India got the Men's U21
World Championship off to an explosive start on Saturday
night. Playing in front of an excitable crowd of 4,500 at
the compact Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, India romped past a
shell-shocked Morocco 3-0 in Pool A. Although the North
Africans improved in each set, they still went down 25-13,
25-16, 25-22 in just 62 minutes.
It was a triumphant opening by the host nation, who were
inspired by a noisy and passionate crowd. Also in Pool A at
the same venue, Korea beat Serbia and Montenegro 3-2 (25-21,
21-25, 27-25, 17-25, 17-15) and Russia impressed with a
mighty 3-0 victory over a powerful Cuban team (29-27, 28-26,
25-22).
Pool B was played at the 12-team championship's second
venue, Swarna Bharathi Indoor Stadium, where the three
winners on the opening day were Brazil, Germany and the
Netherlands.
Brazil, who have qualified for all 13 editions of this
junior men's world championship and have won the gold medal
twice, beat Tunisia 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-20) in 64 minutes.
Germany were involved in a four-setter with Iran before
emerging victorious 3-1 (25-20, 17-25, 25-23, 27-25), and
the Dutch were too strong for the United States, winning 3-0
(25-18, 25-23, 25-23).
But pride of place on the opening day went to India, who
responded to the occasion of the Saturday night prime-time
billing to open their campaign in style.
The match against African champions Morocco passed by in a
blur of yellow, as the Indians were swept along on a wave of
nationalistic fervour.
Two drummers high in the stands set the tempo for the night,
and the players found their attacking rhythm, too.
India's biggest problem was the electronic scoreboard, which
cut out toward the end of the third set, making India's
countdown to victory hard to follow.
But the scoreboard lights came on just before they went out
for Morocco. Pradeep Guttikonda and P.S. Srikanth led the
Indian victory march with 13 points apiece, with 12 elegant
spikes from Pradeep and 11 from Srikanth. Zakaria Bairi had
a game-high 16 points -- all spikes -- for the North
Africans, and Adil Bsina added 12, but it was a hopeless
cause.
India's head coach, Chander Singh, said the game had gone
according to expectations. But he warned the local media: "We
have been concentrating only on playing Morocco, and now we
must start thinking about our next match, against Serbia and
Montenegro," he said. "I watched their game today and we
have some things to work on in morning training."
Pool A had started with a controversial five-set thriller
between Korea and Serbia and Montenegro. The turning point
of the game came in the third set, when the Serbs were
leading 22-18 but then conceded six straight points before
losing it 27-25. Korea, who won this title in 1987, got 23
big points from the outstanding Kim Yo-Han.
In the second game, Russia beat Cuba 3-0, but as Russia's
head coach, Yuriy Marichev, said after the game, they could
easily have lost 3-0. "Congratulations to Cuba. They are a
nice team, a beautiful team," he said.
Cuba's captain, Yadier Sanchez, warned rivals not to write
them off. "We are a very young team and were too anxious to
win the match. We lost concentration and the match, but as
the tournament progresses we
will show how good we are." Pavel Kruglov was Russia's top
scorer with 18, including five awesome blocks.
In Pool B, Brazil opened with a straight-sets victory over
Tunisia in a steady team effort. Three players scored in
double digits, including Thiago Alves with a modest,
game-high 11.
Germany outlasted Iran 3-1 thanks to 18 points from Dirk
Mehlberg, all of them kills. Three other players scored in
double figures as Germany, in their sixth appearance in this
championship, opened with a confidence-boosting
victory. Mohammad Mohammadkazem led the Iranian reply with
18, but he lacked support.
In the last game of the day in Pool B, Bart-Jan Van der Mark
led the Netherlands to a straight-sets win over the United
States with 15 points, including six blocks and eight spikes.
The Americans pushed them close in the second and third
sets, but the Dutch won the crucial points. |
Competition Formula
