NAGPUR MSVA - Clash of dates of state and varsity meets hit spikers hard

From TOI NEWS- 

The lack of proper communication between Maharashtra State Volleyball Association (MSVA) and Amravati University authorities resulted in tremendous inconvenience to the women players who recently participated in the 43rd Maharashtra State Senior Inter-District Volleyball Championship which concluded at the Samarth Vyayam Shala courts, Pratap Nagar, on Thursday.

The state championship was held in the city from October 31 to November 3, while the West Zone Inter-University Women's Volleyball tournament, which started from November 2 at Amravati, will end on Sunday.

Due to clash of dates of both the important tournaments, players suffered most as they had to shuttle between Nagpur and Amravati and travel more than 300kms to represent their respective teams.

Around 30 teams, which participated in the state meet, had players who were scheduled to play in the WZ Inter-University tourney too. Every district team had at least 3-4 players, who were also part of their varsity squad. With both the team managements insisting their participation, players had no option but to obey the orders of the officials.

During the last two days of the Nagpur tourney, dozens of players from various district teams had to do the balancing act. They used to play in the state championship in the morning and evening sessions in Nagpur, while in the afternoon hours they used to play in Amravati for their respective university teams.

Take the example of Pune team, which triumphed in the Nagpur tourney beating Solapur in the final on Thursday. They had three key players which were also a part of the Pune University team. Captain Sayali Khardekar, Gauri Patil and Ashwini Shetty traveled to Amravati by road to play league matches on Wednesday and Thursday.

The women's final, which was slated to start at 5pm on Thursday, was delayed by two hours because Pune's three players were yet to reach the venue. They reached Pratap Nagar-based ground at 6.45pm and within minutes of their arrival they were again on the court playing the final.

Pune in the morning had upset defending champions Nagpur in the semifinals, which got over at 11am. Immediately the trio rushed to Amravati to play their second league match which was scheduled at 3pm. Soon after winning that match, they returned to Nagpur to play the all-important final. The 155-km distance between Nagpur and Amravati needs at least three hours to cover by road.

"The last two days have been pretty hectic for us. We not only played for two teams but had to play the matches at different cities. It was tough for all of us. There should have been gap between these two tournaments. We paid a heavy price for the mistake of the authorities," Pune skipper Sayali Khardekar told TOI on Friday.

Sayali, however, was happy that despite the busy schedule, she and her two teammates managed to help their Pune district emerged champions.

"When we came to know about the schedule of two tournaments running simultaneously, we all were reluctant to adjust. But the urge to win the title inspired us. We wanted to win both the tournaments," added Sayali, a first year MCom student of Modern College, Pune.

Despite putting the players to severe trouble, the MSVA secretary Balasaheb Suryawanshi refused to take the blame and said they are not responsible for this mess.

"We announced the state championship dates in May, six months in advance. The Amravati University, which hosted the West Zone tourney, was aware of the dates. Despite this, they refused to change the dates. The MSVA requested Amravati University to postpone their tourney by just two days but despite all our efforts they refused to budge. In the end, players suffered. We are sorry for the players but we were helpless in this situation," reasoned Suryawanshi.