BENGALURU: Ahmedabad Defenders lost in straight sets on their Volleyball Club World Championships debut here on Wednesday, but the numbers - 25-22, 25-23, 25-19 in favour of Brazil's Itambe Minas - do not tell the entire story.
In the Pool A contest at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium, Ahmedabad ran their rivals close in each of the three sets before going down fighting. The reigning Prime Volleyball League champions must be lauded for keeping the Brazilian powerhouse on their toes, given the hurdles they faced in the lead-up to the global tournament.
Ahmedabad could not have had a tougher run-in; hardly anything went their way as they approached their maiden campaign at the World Championships. While the event's schedule was officially announced in October, Ahmedabad could begin their camp only on November 16, about 20 days before the start of the tournament (December 6).
Many 'domestic' players, who are employed at government organizations, faced a lot of difficulty in getting released for the camp in Bengaluru and the six-team event. After the 0-3 defeat to Itambe, Ahmedabad captain and setter A Muthusamy said that longer camps are mandatory for marquee tournaments.
"We came so close in the first two sets; a point for us here or there could have changed the way the sets went. If we can deliver such a performance after just two weeks of proper training, imagine what we can do when we work together for six months. Had we worked together for more time, we would have at least won a set. We believe that we can compete against the best; we showed it at the Asian Games and are showing it here," Muthusamy told TOI.
To make matters worse in the tune-up, Ahmedabad could not strike a deal with their first-choice overseas targets and were close to fielding an all-Indian squad. However, they managed to sign two foreigners - Australian outside hitter Max Senica and Belarusian blocker Ilya Burau - within the deadline, set by the FIVB (International Volleyball Federation).
But Ahmedabad could name only one overseas player - Senica - in their final squad after Burau faced visa problems and did not travel to Bengaluru. Piling more misery on the team, attacker SV Guru Prasanth, one of head coach S Dakshinamoorthy's trump cards, suffered a knee injury in training a few days before the tournament opener.
Ahmedabad tried to bring in India international Jerome Vinith as Guru's injury replacement, but the FIVB did not approve the signing; Vinith was not named in the provisional squad and could not be drafted in. In the same week, assistant coach R Kamaraj lost his father; he made the journey to his hometown to perform the last rites and returned to the camp a few days later. Despite all the hurdles, Ahmedabad put up a good fight.
