Meet Abhijit Bhattacharjee, captain of the Indian Volleyball team, who hails from Tezpur.

North East News Agency

North-East has archers, boxers, some footballers and few odd athletes who have made it big in the national level. Most of them hail from the sports powerhouse Manipur. The State of Assam has thrown up none to don national colours in recent times in any games. The deeds of former badminton national champion and Olympian Deepankar Bhattacharya is still held as the only pride to  show off.

But now the State has little more to boast as one of its son has not only hit the national level but he has gone to become the captain of the national team in Volleyball, a sport in which Assam is still considered a non-entity as far as national standards are concerned. He is a young man from Tezpur and his name is Abhijit Bhattacharjee.

Abhijit is currently based in Dheradun where he is working for ONGC. He generally represents Uttaranchal in sports meets. Abhijit was recently in Guwahati.

NENA caught up with him for a brief chat—

North East News Agency: Are you disappointed at the recent performance of the Indian team as it failed to qualify for the World Cup?

Abhijit Bhattacharjee: Yes, of course. We lost a good opportunity to qualify in the main event.

NENA: What are the reasons for failure?

AB: We had prepared well for the tournament but lacked in match practice. Still we started off with two good wins in the qualifying round. But the defeat against China in the third match was a jolt that we could not overcome. In the second round of qualifiers we were faced with top teams like Australia and Korea. We went down after putting up a good fight. However, I admit that we could have played far better than we did.

NENA: How do you compare standard of Indian volleyball with the world standard?

AB: There are some differences. European players are physically fit. Their height is also good. But we are steadily improving. We have an excellent pool of junior players who are very talented and can raise the standard of Indian volleyball in future. If proper planning is done and the team plays true to its potential, we can at least clinch a medal in the forthcoming Asian Games in Doha.

NENA: What about Assam?

AB: There is not much improvement. The State is also lacking in infrastructure. As a result, if volleyball players from the State want to improve their game, they are forced to go to other states. I want to represent Assam in the coming National Games. But to move over from Uttranchal won’t be that easy. Still I will try to get a clearance. But my representing Assam won’t guarantee it a medal as volleyball is a team game. In order to do that, long term preparation as is specific coaching and exposure tours are needed.

NENA: In the coming days what are your plans?

AB: I fractured my finger during the world cup qualifiers. So I will be out of action for some time. I’ll have to sit out of the Rashid International Championship in Dubai. The injury is not serious, but it will take some time to heal. I am hopeful that I will be back at the time of Asian championship. But I am seriously contemplating to leave volleyball and switch over to beach volleyball. I have already started working towards this. Volleyball is a team game. Winning a medal at the international level may not be possible, while beach volleyball can provide me the opportunity.

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