"VAN" (Sports Desk - 10.12.2023) :: With the Men's Volleyball Club World Championships 2023 held in India for the first time in history, the people of Bengaluru have had the opportunity to witness the world’s finest volleyball players shine in their city. Ahmedabad Defenders are slotted in Pool A with the defending champions, Sir Sicoma Perugia from Italy, and Brazil’s Minas Tênis Clube (Itambé Minas). In Pool B, Halkbank Spor Kulübü from Turkey, Sada Cruzeiro Volei from Brazil, and Japan’s Suntory Sunbirds are grouped.
Ahead of the much-anticipated five-day volleyball carnival at the Koramangala Indoor Stadium, representatives of all six teams and key organizers addressed a press conference at the Renaissance Hotel in Bengaluru.
FIVB, Second Executive VP and CEV President, Mr. Aleksandar Boricic was of the opinion that there is massive untapped potential in Indian volleyball. “India is a huge country, one of the biggest in the world. There is enormous potential. We sincerely hope that this tournament creates a great deal of awareness and interest towards the sport in the country. There is no lack of skill in the country but if a team has to be able to make it to the top level, they need to have opportunities to compete with the best in the world. These players, who are among the best in the world, probably don't have a count on the number of matches they've played and that's really the best way to get to the highest possible level at this game,” he said.
While Mr. Boricic said FIVB would be keen to assist India in developing the game, he remarked that many steps need to be taken within the country as well. “For volleyball to pick up in India, a number of things have to happen at different levels. You need to start finding top quality coaches, getting a good selection process in place and playing more and more tournaments to identify talents,” he said. “I do think there is a lot of opportunity over here and with initiative being taken from within the country in trying to push the sport and making it popular across the nation, FIVB is more than happy to lend a helping hand,” he added.
“Right now, we are in Bengaluru and I'm sure there are a lot of cities that are very interested in our sport. Hopefully in the future, the game is also taken to all these cities and more and more people start to take up the sport,” he concluded.
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