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Japanese give India a lesson in power play

C N R Vijaykumar in Bangkok

The inexperienced Indian side crashed out of contention in the Asian Games volleyball tournament when it lost in straight sets to defending champions Japan in a Group B encounter today.

This was India's second successive defeat.

Japan, which did not take the court on the opening day following Iran's withdrawal, won 15-3, 15-4, 15-6.

The Indians have two more matches to go, against Kazakhstan and Pakistan.

The Japanese virtually steamrolled the Indians with their power play. Their blocking was effective, service classy, and smashes deep and penetrative.

The Indian team, cleared by the government on a no-cost basis, is in Bangkok to gain more experience. Today's match would have given it enough clues on both tactics and power play.

The Indians today shone only in patches, unlike yesterday when they gave the Chinese a fight.

The team could hardly do a thing in the first set which the Japanese won 15-3 with some fine blocking and smashes by Nobutaka Hirano and Minoru Takeunchi. The Japanese also came up with some fine drop shots that found no answer from the Indians.

The Japs pulverised the Indians in the second set too, which lasted a little over an hour. Though the Indians came up with some good smashes and captain M S Rajesh, Joy Joseph, and Ravikanth Reddy made a few good placements, India could get only four points in the set.

The third set saw the Indians take a 2-0 lead quickly. But the Japanese spikers not only drew level, but marched ahead and scored six continuous points on the service of captain Takashi Narita to take the score from 3-3 to 9-3 in their favour.

Yawar Ali then came up with a spirited game in a late burst with some fine placing and timely smashes. This enabled India to grab three more points as Japan won the set 15-6.

UNI