‘Beach volleyball is addictive — the more you play, the more you feel like playing’

Debalina.Talukdar@timesgroup.comHe is known for his sharp focus and infectious energy on sand

volleyball

courts. Having represented the country in over 100 international matches, Hyderabadi boy, Krishnam Raju is a force to reckon with in the world of beach volleyball. However, not many know that Krishnam’s tryst with the sport happened only a decade ago when he chose the sand court over indoor arenas. “I played indoor volleyball for India from 2003 to 2009, and from 2010 onwards, I have been playing

beach volleyball

,” says the 32-year-old as he settles down for a chat. “I started playing at the Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, following which I began representing India internationally. I have been to Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, Kazakhstan, USA, Australia, Italy and Iran to represent India in various international tournaments,” he says.

Of late, the lanky sports star has been toiling with a single-minded focus — the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.“We are practising for it and I hope we qualify for the Games. We are also targeting the

2022 Asian Games

, to be held in Hangzhou, China. The Volleyball Association of Andhra Pradesh is providing camps for us in that regard and I am really thankful to them,” he says.

One of the notable achievements of the Indian beach volleyball team was winning the Central Asian Championship in 2016. And Raju attributes the success to Volleyball Federation of India (VFI). “Previously, beach volleyball wasn’t that popular, but right now its popularity is increasing in Goa, Kerala and especially Visakhapatnam, because the Volleyball Federation of Andhra Pradesh is providing us with more opportunities, training programmes and international exposure,” he says.

Krishnam says that Iran and Qatar top the list among the Asian countries which provide competition to India; the latter in fact qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games, held in Rio de Janeiro, for which the Indian team couldn’t make the cut. “Despite our best efforts, the team was unable to qualify for the competition. We lost in the last round,” says Raju.

He further adds that international players engage in beach volleyball throughout the year whereas the Indian team just has two to three months preparation time before a competition. That, according to Raju, is a huge disadvantage the team has to accept and deal with.

Commenting on the importance of a player’s fitness regimen, Raju says, “Once a player starts ageing, he has to focus more on fitness. Earlier, fitness was not given much importance but for the last two to three years, each one of us has been provided with a personal fitness trainer, and whenever we go for a tournament, we undergo a month of intense fitness sessions prior to it.” When asked whether he prefers indoor or beach volleyball, Raju says: “Beach volleyball is really addictive — the more you play the more you feel like playing; it’s a never-ending process, but we do not have much scope in our country since beach volleyball is not considered a separate sport. It’s the indoor volleyball players who also play beach volleyball. Indoor volleyball provides us with a lot of career options as well. We get jobs in the banking sector, railways, customs, etc.” maintaining a work-play balance is of paramount importance, says Raju. “I work as an inspector in Customs and Central GST department in Hyderabad. Throughout the year, we have to participate in competitions like Federation Cup and state level championship, so we have fixed morning and evening practise sessions. I am grateful to my superiors, they have been very supportive. Whenever I have a match coming up, they allow me to go and play; they encourage me a lot,” says Raju, signing off.