India set it up for one final assault

In the final India will take on Brazil, who downed the Czech Republic 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 in 73 minutes in the first semi-finals earlier today.

India had earlier thrashed Iran 3-1 sets in the final showdown on home soil to land the Asian title last April, while Iran also had something to be proud of — finishing second place at the previous World Championship in Cairo, Egypt two years ago.

“It was a glorious moment for us. We want to return to India with the tag of world champions and the trophy”, an emotionally charged GE Sridharan, the team coach, said from Thailand.

“We should have won the match against Iran rather easily. But in the second set, a slight slip up caused us problems and we won the match only in the fourth set,” he said.

“India was trailing after being 11-all in the second set. But from 19-23, we collected two points, making it 23-24. We needed two points to win, as against the single point by Iran. A mix-up in the middle caused us the set,” he said.

“No one can imagine the hard work put in by our boys and the encouragement given by both Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) president B Sivanthi Adityan and secretary, K Murugan,” he said.

India, powered by fiercely-attacking Sanjay Kumar attacked right from the whistle of the referee. The aggressive form sparked the team to the 20-11 lead, thanks to devastating spikes from Sanjay Kumar and Vikash Tomar. India won the first set 25-15.

With a big group of fans cheering them all the way, the Iranians apparently overcame their nervousness shown in the previous set to take the commanding 9-7 lead. Their blocking ability was also improving by leaps and bounds to help widen the gap to 16-13. However, India never gave up, roaring back with waves of mighty attacks.