YANAM: After the success in Bengaluru and Chennai, the third leg of the inaugural Indian Volley League (IVL) moves to this little port town, which is one of the regions in the Union Territory of Puducherry. The action gets underway at Dr Y S R Indoor Stadium from Sunday and the final is scheduled for June 16. Sitting at the top after the end of the second leg are Chennai Spikers, which won the Chennai-leg. The first-leg winners Maratha Warriors follow them, though both have the same number of points, 16. Spikers are, however, ahead because of better set quotient (SQ) of 1.43 compared to Maratha Warriors’ 1.111.
Hosts Yanam Tigers are placed third at 15 points (SQ: 1.117), followed by Hyderabad Chargers, also at 15 points (SQ: 1.00).
Kerala Killers (SQ: 0.86) and Karnataka Bulls (SQ: 0.65) — both with 14 points — are at the fifth and sixth places, though there is not much of a difference between the six teams. Yanam Tigers start as favourites. If local hero and international P S Srikanth fires on all cylinders, Tigers have a good chance to finish at the top. Chennai Spikers and Hyderabad Chargers too look in good nick. They have a good block and attack.
However, the performance on the day matters a lot.
The IVL has given an excellent opportunity for young spikers who can showcase their talent. Rajasthan’s Lavmeet Katariya, the middle blocker of Hyderabad Chargers who impressed in Bengaluru, was awarded the best blocker prize. John Christopher of Karnataka Bulls was awarded the best attacker in the second leg, while his teammate Vikram impressed as an attacker.
Kiran Phillip of Kerala and Dilip Koilwal of Karnataka stood out in libero roles.