Indian captain Jerome Vinith knew the opportunity was too good to pass. With Ahmedabad hosting the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Men’s Cup, it was the first time in a decade that the Indian men’s team would be playing an international competition at home. For a sport perennially embroiled in administrative chaos, this was a glimmer of hope. And the Indian team held on to it, to capture a bronze in their tournament debut.
Though almost every team at the competition was ranked higher than the hosts, India defeated New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Taiwan, Bahrain and Australia, dropping only one set, to enter the semifinals unbeaten. They suffered a 2-3 defeat to eventual champions Indonesia in the semifinals, but bounced back the next day to beat defending champions Bahrain 25–23, 23–25, 25–21, 25–17 in the bronze medal play-off.
“The semifinal loss really hurt us. We had great momentum, we were one set up against Indonesia, and to lose from there was very difficult for us to take,” says Vinith.
“Everyone was disappointed after the match, but at the same time, we knew we couldn’t leave the tournament without a medal. We regrouped, backed each other and came back the next day with the goal to win bronze. I’m really happy with how the team responded. It showed the character of this group.”
It’s a team that is rather good at taking it on the chin. For the last 10 years or so, Indian volleyball has been set back by turmoil. There were times when players had to pay out of their pocket to represent the country at international tournaments.
In-fighting between factions and politics took precedence over governance of the game. The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) revoked the recognition of Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) again in April this year, handing the sport’s affairs to a steering committee, comprised of FIVB and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials.
“Even with all these things and this one month-and-a-half of training before the AVC Cup, I think this result is fantastic,” says India head coach Dragan Mihailovic.
Mihailovic, a renowned Serbian coach, had trained India in 2019/20, before the bureaucracy got to him, and he quit. When FIVB wanted to reinstate him as the head coach once again, Mihailovic was not too keen. He was thriving in the well-managed ecosystem in Hong Kong even as India was plagued by the same old problems. But after two months of convincing, he returned as the India coach in April 2024.
Despite the force of his personality, things didn’t quite move. India did not play a single international tournament from August 2023 to May 2025. And all of last year, the national team were in camp for a mere 14 days, ahead of the Central Asian Volleyball Association (CAVA) Men’s Volleyball Nations League in Fergana, Uzbekistan, where India earned a silver.
“I was not ready to accept the offer and to come back. The conditions of the work and too many other things were not really perfect,” the coach says.
“But I came back just because I believe that we can make something good here. Because of the potential of Indian volleyball. Because these guys really need better training, better organisation and for sure they will bring the result. The coaches here working with a little bit older system, how people were working 40-50 years ago. Last year we were in training for only 14 days. This is not what a serious volleyball team needs.”
While the training camps are few and far between, the lack of international exposure is another glaring weakness. Apart from the one month of Prime Volleyball League, which had completed four seasons, Indian players resort to playing for state teams, their PSU employers or festival tournaments, which are played on gravel outdoors rather than an indoor mat and pose a higher chance of injury.
“I think every volleyball player in India has their own story,” says the 34-year-old Vinith, who studied mechanical engineering but has become one of the mainstays of the Indian team.
“We’ve all made sacrifices in different ways, but the biggest challenge has been the lack of opportunities. For almost a decade, Indian volleyball hasn’t had the kind of system that players need to grow. In all these years, we’ve had only two international tournaments hosted in India, and apart from the Prime Volleyball League over the last five years, we haven’t really had regular international exposure. It’s difficult to improve if you’re not consistently playing against the best teams.”
Mihailovic says that India, with minimal training and experience, consistently comes up against nations which have seven-eight month-long leagues, top-notch training facilities and a system geared towards spotting and nurturing talent. In India, he cannot even get a camp for developing coaches done without administrative hurdles. This in a country that has a rich volleyball heritage. India has won three medals at the Asian Games—bronze in 1958, silver in 1962 and a bronze in 1986.
“I saw two, three festival outdoor tournaments in Kerala and other places with 5,000 people at 2 in the morning watching volleyball,” the Serbian coach says.
“Definitely because the crowd in Ahmedabad was fantastic. They support us every evening and people like volleyball here. India doesn’t have the problem with volleyball. There are millions of players playing volleyball. The system is a little bit of a problem.
“Our guys are working in the department (employed by PSUs), they are not fully professional volleyball players. So, we need to take care about them. We need to have them a little bit longer period (in training) to be sure that we can avoid the injuries and slowly prepare them, and after that start working with some target of the certain competition. Because it is a big gap at the international level.”
Mihailovic and Vinith are hopeful that the bronze at the AVC Cup sparks a change in Indian volleyball. By finishing on the podium, India qualified for the 12-team AVC Continental Cup in Japan in September, which will feature top teams in Asia like China, Japan and Iran, who did not participate in AVC Cup in India. The result has also propelled India’s ranking to 42, the first time in 10 years that they broke into the top-50 in the world.
“After winning bronze at the AVC Cup, it finally feels like people are talking about volleyball again,” says the India captain.
“I think we played really well as a team. Everyone trusted each other and fought for every point. We had worked a lot on our defence and serving before the tournament, and that helped us a lot. More than anything, I think our mindset made the difference. We’ve shown that we can compete with the best teams in Asia. Now we need that momentum to continue.”
The rankings jump means India is ranked No.7 in Asia, and fulfil the Sports Authority of India’s mandate that only teams ranked among top 8 will be sent to the Asian Games. However, their participation is not confirmed yet.
“With this last result, too many people understand that India can represent in a very good way,” says Mihailovic. “We have the potential. Just give us a chance.”
Deepti Patwardhan is a sportswriter based in Mumbai.