National medallist Madhav: ‘Need critical review of standard of volleyball at state-level’

“It hurts that only two players from Telangana (Harsha and Bhagyaraj) and one from Andhra Pradesh (Prashant) figure in the PVL. There is something seriously wrong with those governing the sport in the State,” Madhav, a three-time national gold medallist said.

Andhra Pradesh state team which won the 1986 Senior National volleyball championship.

Three-time Senior national gold medallist in volleyball, G.V. Madhav, felt it is time for some drastic revival measures for the sport in Telangana.

“With the Prime Volleyball League being held in the City, most of us (former spikers) feel, there should be a serious effort to bring back the glory when the then united Andhra Pradesh was such a dominant force in volleyball across India,” Madhav, who was a contemporary of the likes of Abdul Basith, P.V. Ramana, Manoj Reddy, S. Venkatnarayana, Srikanth Reddy from the State, said in a chat with Sportstar .

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“The PVL is no doubt a terrific concept aimed at popularising the sport and benefiting the players too. But there is a need to ensure a tournament structure at State-level,” he said.

“The fact that A-Division League which featured almost the top India players then from the State, Nandan Singhji trophy (inter-schools), Shankarji Memorial Trophy were not held regularly in the last 10 years shows the sorry state of affairs,” Madhav said.

"By all means, after the demise of bhai saheb (former AP Volleyball Association Secretary L. Venkatram Reddy), volleyball has lost direction and in fact sports in general too (he was also secretary of AP Olympic Association) hit a low," he said.

“Definitely, the PVL serves as a reminder of the need to make a critical review of the standard of volleyball in the State,” he said.

“It hurts that only two players from Telangana (Harsha and Bhagyaraj) and one from Andhra Pradesh (Prashant) figure in the PVL. There is something seriously wrong with those governing the sport in the State,” Madhav, who also is a TV sports commentator.

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“The pity is that even the Volleyball Federation of India and the IOA are faction-ridden. Effectively, the State Associations are reduced to nothing and most of the decisions are taken unilaterally,” said Madhav, Assistant Commissioner , Customs & GST.

“Now, tell me who is the competent authority to pick even the Indian team for the forthcoming Asian Games? No one knows because of so many court cases,” the former junior India player said.

“I sincerely appeal to all the concerned in the State to bury the differences and work in such a way that we provide a platform for the young talent for which there is no dearth. Being one of the least expensive to start with, volleyball badly needs the desired fillip,” he concluded.