Kashmiri spikers look to a familiar outsider for hope and inspiration

KOZHIKODE: When asked about the status of volleyball in Jammu and Kashmir, Volleyball Federation of India associate secretary and J&K volleyball association chief executive officer Kuldip Magotra has a wry smile. “The boys come here to see the lights in the indoor stadium,” he sniggers. It was no joke, but a clear indicator of the state of affairs of the sport in the border state. For a region that has no proper indoor volleyball courts, no academies and no exclusive sports hostels, one cannot expect too much from their side. J&K men lost both of their matches of the senior nationals at the Calicut Trade Centre Indoor Stadium on Wednesday.

The game, as per Magotra, is in a dormant state. Armed conflicts have ensured that the game remains confined to a few pockets. Out of 22 districts in J&K, only 16 are affiliated with the state unit. From the Southern region, considered as a hotbed for militancy, the game has only marginal presence. As per the J&K officials, there is only one player from militancy-prone region in the current squads and that man is from Kulgam.

Despite grim realities, J&K, however, has found new hopes in a 21-year-old player who hails from Poonch — a border town — but ironically plies his trade for Punjab, where he has been studying for the past several years. Saqlain Tariq has been a sensation in J&K volleyball after representing India in the Youth Asian Championship in 2014 — the first spiker from the state to do so. Being a talented setter, the Punjabi University student has already been in the senior men’s national camp preparing for the Asian Games. Magotra reckons that Saqlain’s rise is being viewed as an elixir for the sport in J&K. “For several months there is snow all around.

Then there are security issues. Playing volleyball is a luxury in many parts of our state. Rise of a youngster is welcome news.” Saqlain is unusually calm while playing under pressure, a trait he may have picked up thanks to where he is originally from — Poonch, which gets bombarded by crossborder shelling from Pakistan. “We are used to that. When there is a lull in firing, we find it tough to s l e e p, ” j o ked Saqlain’s father Mohammed Tariq, who is also a member of the state volleyball unit.

However, he agreed that chances of his son earning a name would have been bleak had he opted to stay back. “I sent him away to become a quality player and nobody in J&K complained about that,” Tariq said. “He’s become good now. At some point he should be back among us.” And the player himself has plans to do exactly that. “At some point, I will go back and do something for J&K volleyball,” Saqlain said.

shan.as@newindianexpress.com