KOCHI: There were major question marks leading up to the Prime Volleyball League both on and off the court, on whether the franchise-based competition would go ahead or not. Like for any sporting event these days, the biggest challenge was brought about by Covid.
The league was supposed to be held in Kochi initially but the high number of cases in the state forced a logistical challenge upon the organisers. The league was eventually shifted to Hyderabad and the action eventually got underway at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium as Blue Spikers Kochi took on the Hyderabad Black Hawks in the opener.
The Hawks thoroughly dominated the game to win 15-12, 15-11, 15-11, 15-10, 13-15.
For a majority of these Indian players, it was an opportunity to play the sport after a long time. The pandemic had left these players with little action while the teams were only able to train with the entire squad in recent weeks.
The foreign players had joined the teams later and for the teams, it was all about getting used to the conditions and teammates quickly.
As the attention shifted to matters on the court, the focus was on the volleyball players in action. If Karthik Madhu and Colton Caldwell were leading the charge for the Kochi outfit, Hyderabad's Rohit Kumar and Amit Mulia were equal to the task.
The Hyderabad side looked sharper and more clinical as they were converting the big points and pegged back the Spikers who are coached by MH Kumara who had guided Chennai Spartans to the Pro Volleyball League title back in 2019.
As for Hyderabad, they have Ruben Wolochin as their coach who interestingly is the only foreign coach in the league and the Argentine's work with the team was evident.
Wolochin is a coach with close to 30 years of experience in countries like Germany, Spain, Hungary, Denmark and Finland and it looked like the team has quickly picked up on his ideas.
The big difference between the two outfits was that Hyderabad looked better prepared for the tactical and the big points.
This was evident in the way the Hawks were winning the super points which left the Kochi outfit playing catch up for most of the game.
The Hawks raced away after winning the first set 15-12 and what stood out was the way they were blocking almost anything the Spikers were throwing at them while getting their strikes in.
The pattern continued in the second set as the Hawks are outsmarting their rivals and looked like a well-drilled unit who had all their bases covered.
Trailing two sets, Karthik who is one of the marquee faces in the league tried to rally his team and was leading the charge by trying to breach the Hawks defence which looked impenetrable at times.
The third set turned out to be one of the most closely fought sets but Hyderabad started pulling away as the set progressed and closed out the game. There was some respite for Spikers as they managed to win the final set offering them some consolation in a game they were largely second best.
The Spikers are a blend of experienced and young players and they are expected to get better as the competition progresses. As for Hyderabad, they have laid down the marker and look ominous.