The India men's national volleyball team represents India in international volleyball competitions. It is managed by the Volleyball Federation of India and is currently sponsored by Sahara India Pariwar and Asics.
The Indian volleyball team has had a rollercoaster ride in its history. Although they have never qualified for the Olympics, they have appeared in the World Championship twice.
Despite having little to no presence at the world stage in its history, the team has enjoyed some success at the continental level by clinching a silver medal and two bronze medals at the Asian Games. After the decline after the 1980s, the team has fared well at the recently introduced Asian Cup competition, receiving a silver and a bronze medal so far.
History
Pre-Independence Though the game was played informally for a long time, the first interstate volleyball tournament was held in 1936 by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Establishment In 1951, the formation of Volleyball Federation of India gave the sport a better structure and the interstate tournament evolved into the senior national championship with the first edition being held in 1952. This platform gave birth to many talents who went on to represent India at the international level.
Golden years (1952–1962) India had immediate success after formation as they made their debut in FIVB Men's Volleyball World Championship's 1952 edition. After losing to France and Czechoslovakia by comfortable 3–0 margins in the first round, they made a comeback in the 7th–8th placing round as they beat Finland, Lebanon and Israel to clinch the 8th spot.
In 1955, India won the Asian Volleyball Tournament which was held in Tokyo. Three years later, the Gurudev Singh led team won the bronze medal at the 1958 Asian Games. They beat Hong Kong and the Philippines in three straight sets but could not get past volleyball powerhouses Iran and Japan, though they managed to win a set against each.
In the 1962 Asian Games they managed to go one step ahead as they began their campaign with four consecutive wins against Burma(twice), Cambodia and Pakistan. Their old rivals Japan got the better of them in what was a five set thriller, with Japan winning the final set by 15–12 margin. This team was led by legendary players Nripjit Singh Bedi and A. Palaniswamy, both Arjuna Award winners, who had graduated to the senior team, which was then led by TP Padmanabhan Nair, who was also a part of the 1958 team. India has to settle for the Silver Medal which is currently their highest achievement ever at the Asian Games.
The finest era (1960s–1980s)
After a memorable outing at the 1962 Asian Games, India finished fourth and fifth at the 1966 and 1974 Asian Games respectively, not making it to the 1970 edition in between.
India did not enter into the inaugural Asian men's volleyball championship in 1975 but made their debut in the following tournament in 1979 where they finished fifth. In the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok and at the 1982 Asian Games at home in New Delhi, the Indian volleyball team saw another upswing after finishing seventh and fourth respectively, falling just short of a medal in 1982 edition after they finished at the bottom of the table among four teams in the final round, going down to the heavyweights South Korea and China in straight sets.
In the following year at the Asian Volleyball Championship in Tokyo, India finished fifth yet again without any medal. However, the wait for a medal would not last long.
At the 1986 Asian Games, India sent a team led by Cyril Valloor that included former national coach GE Sridharan, K Udayakumar, who later captained the Indian volleyball team, Abdul Basith, Dalel Singh and PV Ramana, father of Indian badminton player PV Sindhu.
All of them were Arjuna awardees, including the team's lynchpin Jimmy George. Besides playing on the national circuit for a decade, he also had stints at clubs in Italy, along with GE Sridharan.
Jimmy George towered at a height of 6'2" and had the advantage of graceful jumps. His ability in the air for a fraction of a second longer helped him in his smashes, all of which were very powerful thanks to his larger frame.
All of these factors combined well together and the Indian volleyball team started the Asian Games with four victories – against Hong Kong, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
Later in the games, they went down to the home team South Korea, who went on to register another victory later, but in between the Indian volleyball team finally managed to beat powerhouses Japan, more impressively in straight sets, facilitated by Jimmy George's tremendous drive. However, they could not sustain the momentum, as they fell to eventual champions China, to end up with bronze medal.
Decline (1990s–2000s)
The general popularity of the sport in the country declined in the years to follow as in-fighting within federations coincided with the death of Jimmy George in an accident in 1987 and adding to it was the rise of the Indian national cricket team as a powerhouse.
The Indian volleyball men and women's teams dominated the South Asian Federation Games in the nineties, winning three medals each, but it did not spark a revival, with subpar performances to follow at the 2006 and 2010 by the men after they came at ninth and sixth respectively.
However, they finished fourth in the 2005 Asian Men's Volleyball Championship which is currently their highest ever finish at this tournament. They went all the way to semi-finals where they lost in straight sets against Japan and then went down to South Korea in third place match losing with a margin of three sets to one.
2010–present
The 2010 and 2014 editions of the Asian Games provided some respite as the Indian volleyball men's team finished a respectable fifth with modern-day stars and inspirational captains Sinnadu Prabhagaran, Sube singh and Mohan Ukkrapandian leading the way. The team also played at the Asian Cup, where they achieved some fine results, capturing bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Cup and reached all the way to the final of the 2014 Asian Cup by defeating Japan in the group stage, the top Asian team Iran in the semi-final before succumbing to South Korea with a margin of three sets to one. Besides couple of good performances at the Asian level, the team also managed to claim a gold medal at the 2010 South Asian Games.
The Indian volleyball men's team was ranked 34th in 2014, their best in the world, they also managed to win a gold medal eighth gold medal at 2016 South Asian Games, but just as it seemed that the sport was picking up again, an internal dispute in the VFI meant that it was banned from the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) for two years till 2018.
It meant that Indian volleyball players could not travel to other leagues to play, which affected the exposure to different styles, a factor which coach GE Sridharan felt led to a 12th-place finish at the 2018 Asian Games.
The Pro Volleyball League, a franchise-based tournament was started in 2019 and it featured stars like American David Lee, an Olympic gold medallist in 2008. India also gained their ninth and seventh successive gold medal at the South Asian Games in 2019.
The men's Indian volleyball team did not qualify for the Tokyo Olympics following their loss in the Olympic qualification tournament. The team finished sixth in the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. They topped their group, scoring an upset 3–2 victory over favourites South Korea.
Competitive record
Summer Olympics India has never qualified for the Summer Olympics.
Summer Olympics recordQualification recordYearResultPosition 1964Did not qualify– 1968 1972 1976Did not enterDid not enter 1980Did not qualify5th 19845th 19885th 199210th 1996–2008 Did not qualify 2012303 2016Did not qualify 2020303 2024Did not qualify 2028To be determinedTo be determined 2032Total0/17606
FIVB World Championship India has appeared in the FIVB World Championship only twice. They came really close to qualifying in the 2002 qualifiers, missing a place in the World Championship by one spot as they finished third among three best second-placed finishers.
FIVB World Championship recordQualification recordYearResultPosition 1949Did not enter– 19527th–8th placings8th633 195621st–24th placings21st532 1960Did not enter 1962 1966Did not enter 1970 1974 1978 1982Did not qualify651 1986752 19906th place 1994Did not enterDid not enter 1998 2002Did not qualify321 2006523 2010633 2014651 2018SuspendedSuspended 2022Did not qualify2021 Asian Championship 2025Did not qualify2023 Asian Championship 2027To be determinedTo be determined 2029Totals2/238th116520128
Asian Games During the initial years, India had an immediate success as they clinched two bronze medals and a silver medal in their first seven Asian Games campaigns.
Following a bronze medal in the 1986 Asian Games, India did not participate in the next two tournaments due to the controversy in the Federation and the death of Jimmy George. Since then, India has seen a decline in its performance and has not won a medal yet.
Asian Games recordYearResultPosition 1958Group stageBronze medal422 1962Final roundSilver medal761 1966Final round4th853 1970Did not enter 1974Classification 5th–8th5th532 1978Classification 7th–12th7th532 1982Final round4th532 1986Final roundBronze medal853 1990Did not enter 1994 1998Classification 7th–8th7th532 2002Classification 5th–6th5th642 2006Preliminary round9th431 2010Classification 5th–6th6th853 2014Classification 5th–6th5th844 2018Classification 11th–12th12th624 2022Classification 5th–6th6th532 2026Classification 5th–6th6th642Totals15/18 Runners-up905535
AVC Continental Championship India has appeared in the finals for 18 times out of 21. Their highest ever finish was in 2005, when they ended up in fourth place.
AVC Continental Championship recordYearResultPosition 1975Did not enter 1979Classification 5th–8th5th651 1983Classification 5th–8th5th752 1987Classification 5th–8th5th853 1989Classification 5th–8th6th853 1991Classification 9th–12th10th523 1993Classification 9th–12th9th532 1995Did not enter 1997Classification 9th–12th9th963 1999Classification 9th–12th9th862 2001Classification 5th–8th7th624 2003Classification 5th–8th5th963 2005Semi-finals4th743 2007Classification 9th–12th9th1091 2009Final round9th862 20115th–8th semi-finals6th633 20135th–8th semi-finals7th734 20159th–12th semi-finals11th633 2017Suspended 20195th–8th semi-finals8th927 20219th–12th semi-finals9th743 2023Classification 7th–12th11th523 2026Quarter-finals8th413Totals19/224th1408258
Asian Cup India has done well in the recently introduced Asian Cup competition, qualifying for it three times. Their highest ever finish came in the 2014 edition, where they beat old rivals Japan in the preliminary stage, and Iran in the semi-finals, before losing to South Korea in the final. They had to settle for a silver medal which extended their wait for a gold medal at the Asian level since their formation.
Asian Cup recordYearResultPosition 2008Did not qualify 20103rd place matchBronze medal633 20123rd place match4th place624 20141st place matchSilver medal642 2016Did not qualify 2018 2022Classification round10th place413Totals4/7Runners-up221012
AVC Cup The Indian Ad-Hoc Committee did not allow the Indian team to participate in the 2023 tournament. As a result, India still played their matches, but the results of the matches were forfeited, as requested by the committee.
AVC Cup recordYearResultPosition 2018Did not participate 2022 202313th–15th places15th303 2024Did not participate 2025 20263rd place matchBronze medal761Totals2/6Third place1064
CAVA Nations League
CAVA Nations League recordYearResultPosition 20251st place match642
Lusofonia Games India won its first gold medal at the Lusofonia Games in the 2014 edition.
Year Position 2006 2009 2014
South Asian Games