Kerala eves spike to glory Sam Kurien

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SPORTS
Kerala eves spike to
Sam Kurien
Coach Sunny Joseph
Kerala women created history when
they won the 53rd National
Volleyball Championship after a
long gap of 19 years, this time round
upsetting the applecart of mighty Railways
in the final, winning 26-24, 11-25, 22-
25, 25-22 and 15-8 in a marathon fivesetter
at Surapet near Chennai on January
23.
Kerala had last won the title in Delhi
in 1986.Haryana won the men’s title (after
23 years, also beating Railways 21-25, 25-
23, 25-19 and 25-18. For both Kerala and
Haryana, the win means a lot as Railways
had been ruling the roost for long.
Railways had put paid to their aspirations
in the past.Kerala men lost in the
semifinals to Haryana, but they won the
hardliners’ final beating Services.
Railways and Kerala met for the 14th
time in the National Championship finals.
On a head-to-head ratio, this was Kerala’s
third win over Railways, while Railways
have won on eleven occasions, the last
being in 2002 at Chautala in Haryana.In
the title round, Kerala shone both in
offence and defence. Captain P.V. Sheeba
led from the front with a commendable
display, ably assisted by Preethi U. Kartha
and Aneeta Mathew. Aswini S. Kumar
stood out with some outstanding spiking,
but it was Preethi’s smashes in the final set
that turned the match in Kerala’s favour.
The Railway line-up including veteran
Salomi Ramu lost out of steam at the fag
end of the match. Aswini also took
charge of thwarting the rival attack after
star blocker Salitha Prasad was
stretchered off with a twisted ankle
midway through the third set.
The match was replete with rallies
though. In the semifinals, Kerala rallied
brilliantly to defeat a fighting Tamil
Nadu.For defending champions Railways,
January 23 was a Black Sunday as Kerala
women brought an end to their long reign
in volleyball.
Kerala gained sweet revenge when
Assistant coach
Jaisamma P. Moothedan
them in our State is the greatest challenge,”
replied Sunny when asked about the future
of the existing team. “Betsy is a talented
player with a height of 184 cms and
a reach of 3.10 metres, which is the normal
height at the Asian level. She
is getting offers from other States now and
it will be a big loss for Kerala to lose her.”
Sunny is worried about the future of the
team.
Incidentally, three of the
team members got offers from Railways
and the recruitment process is already
Kerala women created history when they won
the 53 rd National Volleyball Championship
after a long gap of 19 years. Sunny Joseph, a
Sports Council coach, feels mental
preparation was the key to the triumph.
they bagged the Sivasubramanian Trophy,
the symbol of supremacy in national
volleyball (women). Interestingly, Kerala
had lost to Railways in the last three finals.
And for Railways, this was only their
second defeat in 19 years! “It
was the mindset that prevented
us from beating them at least
in the last edition at
Davangere,” said Kerala coach
Sunny Joseph. “We were
leading 24-21 in the first set
and 21-18 in the second at
Davanagere, but lost both sets
and went down to Railways in
the final,” he explained.
Jaisamma P. Moothedan achieved the
distinction of winning as a player (in 1982)
and as assistant coach on Sunday, when
Kerala dethroned Railways. She was
thrilled to accomplish this rare feat. “We
need an academy to train our talents,” she
said. “Hiring players from colleges and
institutions is not a permanent solution
for promoting the game.” “There are a lot
of talented players in Kerala. Keeping
under way. But former international
player Jyothish is least bothered: “Let the
players leave. It will ensure their future and
there will be new talents.” K.P. Abraham,
secretary of the Kerala Volleyball
Association, however, is not in
favour of supplying talents to
other teams. “If we provide
good players, only then coaches
like Sunny can train them to
victory,” he said. “It is always
better to have a second string
as reserves,” suggests Abraham
to stop the drain.
There are seven sports
hostels in Kerala for women
spikers and it is difficult for all the talents
to find jobs in the state. The only
institution which has a team is Kerala State
Electricity Board (KSEB). Earlier, there
were teams like Kerala Police, Madura
Coats and KSRTC which recruited many
players in 1970s and ’80s. If some more
institutions start promoting women’s
volleyball teams, that will keep the players
in the State.
February 2005 KERALA CALLING

glory
Sunny, a Sports Council coach, feels
mental preparation was the key to the
triumph. “The mental barrier was broken
this time and we finished on top,”
said Sunny. The team utilised the services
of a psychologist and it paid rich
dividends. Dr Johny helped the girls with
his lengthy sessions. Johny was present in
Chennai on the eve of the final. “Coach
Sunny also had studied the strength
and weakness of all the players,” said
former international Jaisamma.
The team also attended video sessions in
which their own styles were analysed and
mistakes were pointed out. The squad
consisted mostly of KSEB players.
Govt. jobs for players
The State Government has offered jobs
in KSEB for the six job-less players of the
title-winning Kerala squad. K.T. Betsy,
Preethi U. Kartha, M.K. Prajisha, Aneeta
Mathew, P.M. Haseena and Aswini
S.Kumar are the players.Preethi and
Prajisha have offer from Southern Railway
and they currently practise along with the
Railway team. But their appointment is
pending. Betsy has informed her wish to
stay in Kerala, while Aswini is associated
with the Board as a guest player.
Cash award
The State Government announced
cash awards to the members of the
victorious squad. All the team members
would be given Rs 10,000 each, Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy said,
congratulating the side. Sports Minister
Dominic Presentation also congratulated
the team.
Eight players among India
probables
Eight players from the National
Championship-winning Kerala women’s
squad have been selected to the Indian
camp for the forthcoming Asian Senior
Women’s Volleyball Championships.
Captain Sheeba, Aswini, Betsy, Jisha
Thomas, Salitha Prasad, Mercy Antony,
Aneeta Mathew and Vincy George made
it to the camp.
Courses &
Institutions
Certificate
Courses
Audio-visual and Reprographic
Centre, Vattiyoorkavu, Thiruvananthapuram
starts courses on DTP
(3 months), MS Office and Internet
(four months), Data Entry and Control
Operation (3 months); Ph: 2365678
Diploma in
Travel & Tourism
Six months Certificate courses by
Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel
Studies (KITTS) – Airfare Ticketing and
Travel Agency Management –
Fee–7500; Eligibility – Degree
Cambridge International Diploma
in Travel and Tourism – Fee – 15000,
Eligibility - +2, equal
Front Office Management Course –
Fee- 5000, Eligibility - +2 equal, Age
bar – 30 years
Candidates must be fluent in
English. Admission based on written list
and interview. Contact: Director,
KITTS Residency, Thycaud,
Thiruvananthapuram –14, four more
details or www.kittstour.org
PGDCA
Seats vacant for PGDCA courses in
Institute of Human Resources
Development, Regional Centre,
Thiruvananthapuram. Sponsorship for
those belonging to SC/ST Category. Ph:
2550612
Computer
Course
IHRD, Thiruvananthapuram –
Regional Centre starts short term
courses for MS Office and Internet,
Linex and Open Software Awareness
Programme, Personal Computer and
Maintenance and Installation.
Eligibility – SSLC, Contact : Deputy
Director, Regional Centre of IHRD,
Puthupally Lane, Medical College (PO),
Thiruvananthapuram – 11, 2550612
Programming in
Visual Basic
LBS Centre, Thiruvananthapuram
starts weekend course for programming
in Visual Basic, Java, C+ and C++. For
more details contact www.lbskerala.com;
Ph: 2324396, 2324148
KERALA CALLING February 2005 43