TN has the firepower to go the distance: Sundaram

The Tamil Nadu men and women’s volleyball teams have been practising at the Velammal Engineering College Auditorium here for the last fortnight, away from the glare of media, for the Senior National championships in Bengaluru beginning next month.

State men’s team chief coach P. Sundaram says he is confident of his team’s showing in the Nationals. “We have depth in attack and defence. We have reserve players for each position. Our bench strength is better than last time,” he said, here on Monday, after the morning session.

With first-timers in the team, Angamuthu, Sathishkumar, Muthusamy, Praveen Kumar & Dinakaran and experienced players like Ukkarapandian, captain G.R. Vaishnav and Selvaprabhu, the coach said the team has the right mix of youth and experience.

Sundaram said teams like Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand could be tough and it all depends on the team’s composition. “Kerala and Karnataka (it defeated TN in the final of the Federation Cup in Bargur in Feb 2015), we will have to see how good the teams are once we land in Bengaluru,” he said.

Sundaram said even though the team will miss the services of key players such as Kanagaraj, John Christopher and Sarang Lal from last year, it has the necessary firepower to last the distance.

A. Dhinakaran, chief coach of the women’s team, said the unit, comprising entirely of college players, has the capability to bag a bronze medal (it won the bronze in the last two editions). The camp concluded on Wednesday and the teams leave for Bengaluru on Thursday.

The teams: Men: G.R. Vaishnav (captain), Sathish Kumar, Dinakaran, Naveen Raja Jacob, Karthik, Riyazuddin, Selvaprabhu, Angamathu, Praveen, Ukkarapandian, Muthusamy & Sakthikumar. Chief coach: P. Sundaram. Assistant coach: J. Ramesh. Manager: P. Jaganathan.

Women: K. Lakshmipriya (captain), Uttaesha Dharma Sonawane, V. Manju, G. Bakiyalakshmi, R. Mohanavalli, V. Bhavani, E. Poovitha, J. Monisha, L. Iswariya, S. Priya, Bala Ramya, S. Navya. Chief coach: A. Dhinakaran. Assistant coach: Annammal. Manager: Sugantha Sampath Kumar.