Pro Volleyball League: Spotlight back on court

Eight years after the Volleyball Federation of India attempted to create a volleyball league loosely based on the hugely successful IPL, the sporting body has introduced something it has marketed as a far superior product. If the Pro Volley League of 2011 was a failed project that lacked a proper structure, the new Pro Volleyball League hopes to give the hugely popular sport its much-needed commercial revolution in India.

Flashing lights and loud music seem to characterise the glitzy IPL-styled moneyed leagues, and the PVL is no exception to this tried and tested formula. The genre called sportainment is here to stay, and sports lovers will be hoping that the sport benefits at the end of the day. Perhaps, all the fun and games aren’t as harmful as the strongest of sceptics make them out to be.

The opening day of the PVL’s inaugural edition had Kochi Blue Spikers beating U Mumba Volley 4-1 at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium with a scoreline that read 15-11, 15-13, 15-8, 15-10, 5-15. Thanks to the star power of David Lee and Mohan Ukkrapandian, the Spikers breezed through the first three sets with little opposition from the visitors.

The rallies were few and far between, but there were moments of brilliance mostly provided by the Spikers’s setter and captain Ukkrapandian. The India men’s team captain, as predicted, combined well with former American Olympic gold medallist David Lee to make the Mumbai side look ordinary.

Awarded the player of the match award, Ukkrapandian looks like he finally has a larger platform to show his skills as a setter of legendary status. And that was exactly what he provided. Not only did he provide some brilliant assists, the bearded man from Tamil Nadu successfully executed a few dumps in the opponent’s side of the court.

Ukkrapandian later spoke highly of the platform, adding that it is good for volleyball players, who can now feel like stars. The captain also said that he found the lights a bit distracting, something the organisers should definitely look at.

The Mumbai team’s skipper Deepesh Sinha made some spectacular blocks to try and keep his side in the game, but the side was outclassed. The team’s hitter Prince, too, won the team some crucial points with three spikes and four blocks, mostly in the final set, in an attempt to salvage some pride.

It must be said that U Mumba were thumped despite winning several “super points”. A super point can be called by a team once in a set before a serve, which would give them two points if they won that particular point. If they call the super point and then lose the point, the opponent wins two points.

The PVL round-robin games have five sets of 15 points. A team that wins a game gets two points in the league table, while winning all five sets can fetch you three points. This means that Kochi took two points in the tournament opener. With the kind of crowd support—a stand full of ‘Kochi Blue Spikers Army’ surprisingly on the very first day—the Kerala team will be hoping to have many more such dominant displays, as 12 of the 15 round-robin stage will be held in the city, before moving on to Chennai for the rest of the tournament.

In attendance was India’s top-ranked badminton player and the tournament’s brand ambassador P.V. Sindhu. The ace shuttler has been actively involved in the promotion of the league. Her father P.V. Ramana was a member of India’s 1986 Asian Games volleyball side that won bronze. Others from the sports community included former India volleyball player Tom Joseph, former India hockey captain P.R. Sreejesh and promising Kerala pacer Basil Thampi.

A major flaw in the organisational efforts was the placing of the media tribune at the Kochi venue. Made to sit close behind one side of the court—directly in the line of fire from a stray smash—media members like yours truly was hoping that he could go home without a scratch. Thankfully, the towering members of other teams sat in front of the reporters to ward off any such stray balls.

The league continues with a game on Sunday between Calicut Heroes and Chennai Spartans. Four of the six teams this time are from south India, but the league is expected to expand to eight next year and there is a women’s league also in the pipeline.

The PVL comes at a time when Indian volleyball is in desperate need for a revival of sorts. India had a poor show at the 2018 Asian Games, finishing 12th of the 20 teams in the men’s volleyball event. The team, ranked 38 in the world, even managed to lose to Pakistan and Maldives, which are ranked 50 and 78 respectively.

It was, perhaps, a reflection of all that the sport in India has been through over the last few years. The federation has witnessed some serious in-fighting that resulted in it getting banned by the world body in 2016 for almost two years. The ban on the VFI was finally lifted in May 2018, but the situation is still tense.

Partnering with Baseline Ventures, the VFI now hopes to bring the spotlight back on to the court. Learning from the successes of the Pro Kabbadi League and the Pro Badminton League, the PVL will not only bring more money and better coverage for the sport, but will also hope to develop the volleyball culture in India.

(With inputs from Karthik Ravindranath)